Tag: Old Testament

Posted in Exposition

THE AARONIC BLESSING

Posted on by writtenexposition


‘The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.’ Numbers 6:24-26

INTRODUCTION

Recently I attended a wedding service during which the officiating minister delivered the Aaronic Blessing. I was intrigued by this pronouncement, in a 21st century CE Christian setting, of a liturgical blessing from the ancient Israelite cult. I therefore decided to look more closely at the scriptural occurrence of this benediction and seek to determine the original circumstances and meaning behind its use?

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The Aaronic Blessing appears in the book of Numbers which is the fourth of the first five books of the Old Testament (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy). These books are often referred to collectively as the Pentateuch, or as the Torah (law or instruction). The Aaronic blessing comes at the end of a large chunk of religious legislation extending from Leviticus 1:1 – Numbers 6: 27.

This cycle of instructions is mainly concerned with the holiness of YHWH (the Lord) and with the holiness of the Israelites as his chosen people. YHWH had revealed himself to the Israelites as their national god, had brought them out of slavery in Egypt (the Exodus) and had made a covenant with them at Sinai by which they obligated themselves to worship him exclusively. He had also delivered to Moses blueprints for the construction and erection of a portable shrine (known as the Tabernacle) dedicated to YHWH worship and had given detailed instructions for an associated cult (set of religious practices). The latter involved the institution of a priesthood and a sacrificial system. All of this had been successfully implemented as instructed by the time the book of Numbers opens.

At that point the Israelites are preparing to leave Sinai and travel through the wilderness to the Promised Land. Just as the community is about to set out on the journey Moses delivers instructions, specifically to the Aaronite priests, about a blessing. It draws attention to the good things that lie in store for YHWH’s covenant people; those who live their lives in accordance with his revealed word.

THE CONCEPT OF BLESSING

‘Bless’ and ‘blessing’ are common words in the Old Testament and in the culture of the time the concept carried various shades of meaning.

1. Blessing functioned as part of an everyday greeting similar to our modern ‘Hello!’ (see Ruth 2:4; Psa 129:8).

2. Blessing was regarded as having almost magical power to bestow future fertility, prosperity and security (see Gen 27:30-38).

3. Blessing often had God as the object and in these instances it conveyed gratitude and thanksgiving on the part of human beings (see Gen 24:27; Ex 18:10; Ruth 4:14; 1 Sam 25:32-33; 2 Sam 18:28; 1 Kgs 1:48; 5:7; 8:15, 56; 1 Chron 16:36; 2 Chron 2:12; 6:4 and various psalms e.g. Psa 28:6; 31:21). The emphasis is on God as the recipient of praise for blessings already received rather than as the giver of future blessings.

4. ‘Blessed’ was used to describe the situation of one who had already received good things, e.g. Psa 1:1

5. Blessing was used as part of religious worship as petition for the favour of the deity and perhaps also, in the case of the Aaronic Blessing, as a prayer for protection through death (e.g. the Ketef Hinnom amulets – see below).

Hagee (2012, p.27) comments:

‘When God blesses man it is to bestow good health, abundant success, and prosperity, both materially and spiritually. When man blesses God, it is presented in the forms of thanksgiving, reverence, obedience, praise and worship. When a man blesses his fellow believer, he recites the Priestly Blessing of Numbers 6:22-27…’

It is useful to note the important difference in emphasis between blessings already received and those wished for the future. One produces a beatitude, the other a benediction. The Aaronic Blessing is a benediction.

AN ANCIENT BENEDICTION

In 1979 two tiny silver scrolls were found during the excavation of a tomb at Ketef Hinnom near Jerusalem. Since they contain an abbreviation of this priestly blessing in miniature script it is generally thought that these were worn as amulets by the person buried there (possibly a priest). Dating from about the end of the seventh century BCE, these tiny silver sheets are now the oldest written portions of the Hebrew Bible in known existence, predating the Dead Sea Scrolls by three or four centuries.

THE STRUCTURE OF THE  PASSAGE

Following immediately upon the block of legislation dealing with Israel’s holiness, particularly that in Num 5-6 about holiness in the camp, comes this benediction which expresses a wish for the ideal situation; a state of harmony, security and prosperity for the Israelites, brought about by holiness.

6:22-23. The introduction to the blessing.

6:24-26 The wording of the blessing.

6: 27 The conclusion to the blessing.

THE INTRODUCTION TO THE AARONIC BLESSING

‘And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them‘  Num 6:22-23

This introductory section emphasizes that the Lord himself initiated this blessing. YHWH (the Lord) is the author, Moses is the messenger and Aaron and his descendants are the mediators of the blessing. The revelation by YHWH to Moses specifies the blessing as part of a religious ritual that is to be invoked only by priests. These are weighty words that not just anyone can speak casually.

Deuteronomy makes it clear that blessing was one of the main functions of the Levitical priestly office (see also 1 Chron 23:23):

‘At that time the LORD separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to minister unto him, and to bless in his name, unto this day.’  Deut 10:8

‘And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them the LORD thy God hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in the name of the LORD; and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried:’ Deut 21:5

In Numbers 6, however, the message is even more specific: only the Aaronite priests can invoke this priestly blessing. The mediation of the blessing was a specific duty which was exclusive to a single group of priests authorised by YHWH.

We are not told when this blessing was first pronounced by Aaron but it may have been some time earlier when the priests began to exercise their ministry just after the inauguration of the Tabernacle and the priesthood. According to Lev 9:22:

‘And Aaron lifted up his hand toward the people, and blessed them, and came down from offering of the sin offering, and the burnt offering, and peace offerings.’

What Aaron said on that occasion is not divulged nor is there mention of the lifting of the hand in Num 6, but perhaps the wording of that first blessing matched what is recorded here in Numbers 6:24-26.

The particle ‘thus’ (translated ‘on this wise’ in the KJV) specifies that the blessing must be given exactly in the form and wording prescribed by YHWH.

THE WORDING OF THE AARONIC BLESSING

‘The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:
The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.’

This formal request to God for the granting of prosperity, fertility and success to the Israelites consists of three lines each having two clauses and containing two verbs.

bless         keep

shine         be gracious

lift              give

The verbs call for six related actions on the part of YHWH in order that this favourable situation for his people might be achieved.

YHWH appears as the first word in each line and is therefore explicitly the subject of the first clause in each line. He is also implicitly the subject of the second clause in each line. The placement of YHWH at the beginning of each line is for emphasis, as grammatically the threefold repetition is unnecessary. This stresses that although the benediction is spoken by the priests it is the Lord who issues the blessing. This rules out the possibility that blessing can come from another source e.g. the priests or false deities.

Some equate the threefold mention of ‘the Lord’ with the Holy Trinity (Father, Psa 110:1; Jesus, Rom 10:9; Holy Spirit, 2 Cor 3:17) and link the Aaronic Blessing with the Apostolic Benediction ‘The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.’ in 2 Cor 13:14.

Scholars see great literary accomplishment in the Hebrew. Each of the three lines is longer than the one before thus, it is thought, illustrating the increasing flow of God’s blessings. In the original the lines have 3, 5 and 7 words which is a regular sequence of odd numbers. The number of consonants in the lines is 15, 20 and 25 which is a sequence by five. The number of syllables is 12, 14 and 16.

The pronouns throughout the blessing are singular. The KJV clearly shows that they are second person singular by the use of  ‘thee’, e.g. ‘The Lord bless thee and keep thee’. Although singular, and therefore referring to each individual Israelite, this is a collective singular similar to that in the Ten Commandments (Ex 20:2-17: Deut 5:6-21), e.g ‘Thou shalt, thou shalt not’, so the import is wide.

Although one could hardly describe the relationship between YHWH and his Old Testament worshippers as intimate yet the use of second person singular pronouns emphasizes that it was personal. By blessing individuals YHWH blessed the people as a whole, by blessing the people as a whole (collective sense) he blessed individuals.

There is some discussion as to whether the blessing contains six petitions or three. The general opinion seems to be that there are three. That assumes that the verbs are in pairs. The first clause of each line is a call for YHWH to act towards the Israelites, the second clause has to do with his activity on their behalf in response to that call.

The last part of each line can be taken as expanding or explaining the request in the first part (i.e. it is epexegetical).

Some suggest that the Lord blesses by keeping (protecting), the Lord makes his face to shine by being gracious and that he lifts up his countenance thereby giving peace.

The last part of each line may be regarded as giving the consequent action of God to the request in the first part, i.e. it is the result.

The verbs in the Aaronic Blessing

BLESS

bāraḵ: to bless, kneel, salute, greet. Its derived meaning is to bless someone or something.

Blessing in the Old Testament had little to do with spirituality but more to do with material benefits. The first biblical mention of blessing in Gen 1:28 shows that it has to do with productivity (offspring), prosperity, empowerment and personal physical security. Deuteronomy 28:1-14  (which is also in the second person singular) gives a list of blessings that an obedient worshipper of YHWH might expect to receive:

28:3 Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.

28:4 Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.

28:5 Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.

28:6 Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.

28:7 The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.

28:8 The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

28:11 And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD swore unto thy fathers to give thee.

28:12 The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.

28:13 And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath;…

KEEP

šāmar: to watch, to keep, to preserve, to guard, to be careful, to watch over.

This word is used of men guarding, protecting or tending (e.g Gen 2:15; Isa 21:11-12) and of YHWH keeping covenant (e.g. 1Kgs 8:23-25). This request in the Aaronic Benediction is for protection by YHWH against any force, human or spiritual, that would disrupt or destroy the blessing once received by his people.

Psalm 121, in which šāmar occurs several times, is a meditation on YHWH’s vigilance (‘neither slumber nor sleep’) and his preservation of his people. He is a divine security guard.

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore.

SHINE

’ôr: to give light, to shine, to become light, make bright

Examples: Jonathan’s eyes brightened 1 Sam 14:27, 29; and Ezra 9:8 ‘that God may brighten our eyes’.

‘May YHWH make his face to shine in your direction’

This anthropomorphism which attributes human features to God indicates that God makes his presence known but the imagery of his face shining means much more. God is not only near but also friendly and his attitude is benevolent. He will give a positive and favourable reception. See also Psa 31:16; Psa 80:3, 7, 19.

Note: The opposite imagery of the shining face is that of hiding the face (e.g. Deut 31:18) which speaks of rejection.

Psalm 67, which is based on the Aaronic Blessing, is a meditation on ‘bless’ (vv. 1, 6, 7) but also includes the expression ’cause his face to shine upon us’ in v.1.

BE GRACIOUS

ḥānan: to be gracious toward, to favour, to have mercy on.

The idea here is that of God showing favour to his people. This is usually thought of as the action of a superior towards an inferior. There is not the distinction between grace and mercy that we have in the New Testament. The Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) translates ‘be gracious’ as ‘show mercy’. The prayer is that God might deal with his people in mercy, grace and deliverance from afflictions. Perhaps forgiveness of sins would be included as one of God’s gracious actions; judgement tempered with mercy.

At Sinai YHWH had revealed himself as ‘merciful and gracious’ but also held out the possibility of judgement:

And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.

Unlike the above quotation from Exod 34:6-7 there is no mention of judgement in in the Aaronic blessing.

LIFT

nāśā’: to lift, to carry, to take away.

The ‘lifting up of the countenance toward’ literally ‘turn his face towards’ suggests that God is looking at and therefore paying attention to his people, smiling upon them with pleasure and affection.

GIVE

śiym: to put, to set, or to place, to appoint, to bring, to call, to put, to change, to charge, to commit, to consider, to convey, to determine.

The petition ends with a request for the Lord to grant šālôm (peace). ‘Peace’ does not just mean the absence of war but also carries the thought of unity, harmony, well-being, health, prosperity,wholeness, security and salvation.

THE CONCLUSION OF THE AARONIC BLESSING

And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them. Num 6:27

Following the words of the Aaronic Blessing comes verse 27 which continues the instructions for blessing given by YHWH to Moses in vv. 22-23. The Septuagint places verse 27 at the end of verse 23. The verse concludes the section on the Aaronic Blessing and gives an insight into how it was viewd by the Lord.

‘and they shall put my name upon the children of Israel;‘ Does this refer to a further separate ritual that is not described here or back to the invocation of the Aaronic Blessing? Given that details of a different ritual are not supplied it seems most likely that YHWH regarded the invocation of the blessing by the Aaronite priests as a figurative act of putting his name upon the people.

As a ritual act the recitation of the Aaronic Blessing expressed the divine name (being and character) of the covenant-making and covenant-keeping God and reminded the Israelites that they belonged him.

The divine name reminded them of who he is – his character.

The divine name reminded them of what he had done – his works.

The divine name reminded them of what he had promised- his covenant.

As worshippers of an awe-inspiring, holy God they had to be holy as well. The pronouncement of the benediction did not provide an easy magic shortcut to blessing. They had to worship the Lord, obey him and walk in his ways, then blessing would follow. Whenever the blessing was asked for such people it would definitely be granted.

The blessing had to be requested by the Aaronite priests but it was not caused by them. The Lord alone could bless.

SUMMATION

As Christians today we can enjoy the principle enshrined in the Aaronic Blessing: that the Lord who has saved us and brought us into a relationship with himself can sustain us on our journey of life with blessings which are unmerited but graciously bestowed. It is our responsibility, as those who belong to him, to live holy lives.

‘But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.’ Mat 6:33

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS

Bailey, L. R., 2005. Leviticus-Numbers, Macon, GA: Smyth & Helwys

Bush, G., 1858. Notes, Critical and Practical, on the Book of Numbers: Designed as a General Help to Biblical Reading and Instruction, New York: Ivison & Whinney

Duguid, I. M. and Hughes, K. R., 2006. Numbers: God’s Presence in the Wilderness. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

Hagee J., 2012. The Power of the Prophetic Blessing, Brentwood, TH: Worthy Publishing

Martin, G. and Anders, M., 2002. Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers. Nashville, Tenn: Broadman & Holman.

North, G., 1996. Sanctions and Dominion: An Economic Commentary on Numbers, Tyler, TX: Inst for Christian Economics

Pitkänen, P., 2018. A Commentary on Numbers: Narrative Ritual and Colonialism. New York: Routledge

Swete, H. B., 1909, The Old Testament in Greek According to the Septuagint, Cambridge University Press

Rushdoony, J. R., 2006. Numbers, Vallecito, CA: Chalcedon/Ross House Books

van Kooten, G. H., 2007. The Revelation of the Name YHWH to Moses: Perspectives from Judaism, the Pagan Graeco-Roman World, and Early Christianity, Leiden: Brill.

JOURNAL ARTICLES

Cocco, F., 2007, La sonrisa de Dios. Los verbos de la bendición de Num 6,24-26, available at

https://www.academia.edu/9648468/La_sonrisa_de_Dios_Los_verbos_de_la_bendici%C3%B3n_de_Num_6_24_26

Cohen, C., 1993, The Biblical Priestly Blessing (Num. 6:24-26) in the Light of Akkadian Parallels, Tel Aviv, Vol. 20, No. 2, pp. 228-238

Fishbane, M., 1983, Form and Reformulation of the Biblical Priestly Blessing, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 103, No. 1, pp. 115–121.

Isaak, M. A., 1995, Literary Structure and Theology of the Patriarchal Narratives: The Three-fold Blessing, Direction Magazine, Vol. 24. No. 2 pp. 65-74

Martens, E., 2009, Intertext Messaging: Echoes of the Aaronic Blessing (Numbers 6:24-26), Direction Magazine, Vol. 38, No. 2, pp. 163-178

Miller, P. D., 1975. The Blessing of God, Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology, Vol. 29, No.3, pp.240-251

Ozolins, K., 2021. Artifact in Focus: The Ketef Hinnom Amulets, Ink Magazine, Issue 9, pp. 12-14

Yardeni, A., 1991. ‘Remarks on the Priestly Blessing on Two Ancient Amulets from Jerusalem.’ Vetus Testamentum, Vol. 41, No. 2, pp. 176–185

Posted in Exposition

KING JOSIAH OF JUDAH – BIBLIOGRAPHY

Posted on by writtenexposition

BOOKS

Amit, Y., 2006. Essays on Ancient Israel in its Near Eastern Context: A Tribute to Nadav Na’aman. Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns

Barrick, W. B., 2002. The King And The Cemeteries: Toward A New Understanding Of Josiah’s Reform. Leiden: Brill

Barton, J. and Muddiman, J., 2007. The Oxford Bible Commentary. Oxford: Oxford University Press

Beacon, R., 1892. Thoughts on 2 Chronicles, Addison, IL: Bible Truth Publishers

Blenkinsopp, J., 1986. Prophecy and Canon: A Contribution to the Study of Jewish Origins, Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press

Bright, J., 2000. A History Of Israel. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press

Brueggemann, W., 2000. 1 & 2 Kings. Macon: GE: Smyth & Helwys Publishing

Day, J., 2010. Prophecy and the Prophets in Ancient Israel: Proceedings of the Oxford Old Testament Seminar, London: T & T Clark

Finegan, J., 1999. Handbook Of Biblical Chronology: Principles Of Time Reckoning In The Ancient World And Problems Of Chronology In The Bible. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson.

Gabriel, R. A., 2003. The Military History Of Ancient Israel. Westport, Conn.: Praeger

Goldingay, J. and Allen, L., 2007. Uprooting And Planting: Essays On Jeremiah For Leslie Allen. New York: T & T Clark

Grabbe, L. and Nissinen, M., 2011. Constructs of Prophecy in the Former and Latter Prophets and Other Texts, Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature

Graham, M., Knoppers, G. and McKenzie, S., 2003. The Chronicler as Theologian. London: T & T Clark International

Gray, R., 1833. Josiah and Cyrus, Two Great Objects of Divine Notice, in the Scheme of Revelation. London: J. G. & F. Rivington

Harrison, R. K., 2009. Jeremiah And Lamentations. Nottingham, England: Inter-Varsity Press.

Jones, F. N., 1993. The Chronology Of The Old Testament: A Return To The Basics. The Woodlands Texas: KingsWord Press

Knapp, C., 1983. The Kings Of Judah And Israel. Neptune, N.J.: Loizeaux Brothers

Kratz, R. G. and Kurtz, P. M., 2015. Historical And Biblical Israel. Oxford UK: Oxford University Press

Lemche, N., 1998. The Israelites In History And Tradition. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.

Liverani, M., Peri, C. and Davies, P., 2007. Israel’s History And The History Of Israel. London: Equinox Publishing Ltd.

Longman, T., Enns, P. and Strauss, M., 2013. The Baker Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Publishing Group

Lundbom, J., 2004. ‘Jeremiah’, in The Anchor Bible, New York, NY: Doubleday

Lundbom, J., 2013. Jeremiah Closer Up. Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press

Monroe, L. A. S., 2011. Josiah’s Reform and the Dynamics of Defilement. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press

Porter, S., 2009. Dictionary Of Biblical Criticism And Interpretation. London: Routledge

Prosic, T., 2004. The Development and Symbolism of Passover until 70 CE. London: T & T Clark International

Rawlinson, G., 1879. ‘1 & 2 Chronicles’, in Student’s Commentary On The Bible: Old Testament Vol II Joshua -Esther. London: John Murray

Rawlinson, G., 1879. ‘1 & 2 Kings’, in Student’s Commentary On The Bible: Old Testament Vol II Joshua -Esther. London: John Murray

Rossier, H., 1993. Meditations On The Second Book Of Chronicles. Sunbury, Pa.: Believers Bookshelf, Inc.

Venema, G. J., 2004. Reading Scripture in the Old Testament, Leiden: Brill

Voegelin, E., Sandoz, E., Weiss, G. and Petropulos, W., 2001. The Collected Works Of Eric Voegelin: Volume 14: Order And History, Volume I, Israel And Revelation, Columbia: Missouri University Press

Walton, J., Matthews, V. and Chavalas, M., 2004. The IVP Bible Background Commentary. Downers Grove, Ill: InterVarsity Press

Wolfendale, J., 1892. The Preacher’s Complete Homiletic Commentary on the First and Second Books of the Chronicles. New York: Funk & Wagnalls

JOURNAL ARTICLES

Ahlström, G., 1981. King Josiah and the dwd of Amos vi. 10. Journal of Semitic Studies, Vol. 26, No. 1, pp.7-9

Avioz, M., 2007. Josiah’s Death in the Book of Kings. Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses, Vol. 83, No.4, pp.359-36

Ben-Dov, J., 2008. Writing as Oracle and as Law: New Contexts for the Book-Find of King Josiah. Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 127 , No. 2 (Summer, 2008), pp.223-239

Claburn, W., 1973. The Fiscal Basis of Josiah’s Reforms. Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 92, No. 1, pp.11-22

Delamarter, S., 2004. The Death of Josiah in Scripture and Tradition: Wrestling with the Problem of Evil? Vetus Testamentum, Vol. 54, No. 1, pp.29-60

Galil, G., 1993. Geba’-Ephraim and the Northern Boundary of Judah in the days of Josiah, Revue Biblique, Vol. 100, No. 3, pp. 358-367

Glatt-Gilad, D., 1996, The Role of Huldah’s Prophecy in the Chronicler’s Portrayal of Josiah’s Reform, Biblica, Vol. 77, No. 1, pp.16-31

Hamori, E., 2013. The Prophet and the Necromancer: Women’s Divination for Kings. Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 132, No. 4, pp.827-843

Hasegawa, S., 2017. Josiah’s Death: Its Reception History as Reflected in the Books of Kings and Chronicles. Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, Vol. 129, No. 4, pp.522-535

Heltzer, M., 2000. Some Questions Concerning the Economic Policy of Josiah, King of Judah. Israel Exploration Journal, Vol. 50 (1/2), pp.105-108

Janzen, D., 2013. The Sins of Josiah and Hezekiah: A Synchronic Reading of the Final Chapters of Kings. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, Vol. 37, No. 3, pp.349-370

Jonker, L. C., 2012. Huldah’s Oracle: The Origin of the Chronicler’s Typical Style, Verbum et Ecclesia, Vol. 33, No.1, pp.1-7

Leuchter, M., 2009. »The Prophets« and »The Levites« in Josiah’s Covenant Ceremony. Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, Vol. 121, No.1, pp.31-47

Malamat, A., 1950. The Last Wars of the Kingdom of Judah, Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Vol. 9, No. 4, pp.218-227

Markl, D., 2014. No Future without Moses: The Disastrous End of 2 Kings 22–25 and the Chance of the Moab Covenant (Deuteronomy 29–30). Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 133, No. 4, pp.711-728

Na’aman, N., 2011. The “Discovered Book” and the Legitimation of Josiah’s Reform. Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 130, No. 1, pp.47-62

Na’aman, N., 2013, Notes on the Temple ‘Restorations’ of Jehoash and Josiah. Vetus Testamentum, Vol. 63, No. 4, pp.640-651

Mitchell, C, 2006. The Ironic Death of Josiah in 2 Chronicles. CBQ, Vol. 68, No. 3, pp.421-435

Paton, L. B., 1898. The Religion of Judah from Josiah to Ezra, The Biblical World, Vol. 11, No.6, pp.410-421.

Talshir, Z., 1996. The Three Deaths of Josiah and the Strata of Biblical Historiography (2 Kings XXIII 29-30; 2 Chronicles XXXV 20-5; 1 Esdras 1 23-31), Vetus Testamentum, 46 (Fasc. 2, (Apr.,1996), pp.213-236

Wilson, A. M., 1892. The Character and Work of Josiah, The Old and New Testament Student, Vol. 14, No. 5, pp.276-284

Yadin, Y., 1976. Beer-sheba: The High Place Destroyed by King Josiah. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, Vol. 222 (April), pp.5-17

See my posts:

King Josiah of Judah in 2 Kings

King Josiah of Judah in 2 Chronicles

The Death of King Josiah of Judah

Posted in General

THE DEATH OF KING JOSIAH OF JUDAH (640-609 BCE)

Posted on by writtenexposition

THE UNEXPECTED END OF A GOOD KING

Since King Josiah of Judah (640-609 BCE) is unknown in secular history, records of his death are only to be found in three religious texts. These are the canonical books 2 Kings (23:29-30) and 2 Chronicles (35:20-25) plus the deuterocanonical book 1 Esdras (1:25-32). The accounts differ in some details but all agree that Josiah met his end as the result of an encounter with Pharaoh Neco of Egypt.

The biblical record of Josiah concentrates mainly on internal affairs and gives us neither the big picture as regards geopolitics, nor a summary of Josiah’s foreign policy and his manoeuvres in response to the power plays between the superpowers of Assyria, Egypt and Bablylonia. One therefore has to form a conjecture of the sequence of events from information about the period available in external historical sources.

The might of the Assyrian empire had been declining for many years, certainly since before Josiah came to the throne. The Egyptians, the Elamites, the Arabian tribes and others had all revolted, and internal power struggles further weakened the massive empire. Under Ashurbanipal (669-631 BCE) the Assyrians had some success in quelling revolts but things worsened after his death. By the end of Josiah’s reign the Babylonians, under Cyaxares the Mede (625-585 BCE) and the Chaldean Nabopolassar (626-605 BCE), father of Nebuchadnezzar, were coming into ascendancy. It would seem that the Egyptians under their new Pharaoh Neco, although traditionally hostile towards their Assyrians overlords, preferred a weak Assyria to a strong Babylonia, and had committed themselves to helping the Assyrians against the Babylonians.

‘While Josiah was king, Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt went up to the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria. ‘ 2 Kgs 23:29a (NIV)

NB. There has been ongoing controversy over the translation of this verse. The KJV has ‘went up against’ while modern translations like the NIV and ESV say ‘went up to.’ For a technical discussion arguing for a retention of the KJV translation and maintaining that Egypt did not help Assyria see F. N. Jones, 1993, The Chronology of the Old Testament:
A Return to the Basics pp. 184-188. He contends that ‘the king of Assyria’ refers to the Neo-Babylonian Nabopolassar (‘the new possessor of the title “King of Assyria” p.188) who had recently defeated the Assyrians. This article, however, proceeds on the basis that Neco went up to help the Assyrians against the Babylonians, as per the modern translations.

The Babylonian Chronicle for 609 BCE confirms the information given in 2 Kings 23:29 that an Egyptian army crossed the River Euphrates in order to help the Assyrians under Asshur-uballit fight a last ditch attempt to retake Haran from the Babylonians. The Babylonians had taken and destroyed Nineveh, capital of the Assyrian empire in 612 BCE. The Assyrians had set up a refugee government in the town of Haran (in modern day Turkey) but had fled from there when it too was captured by the Babylonians in 610. They needed an Egypto-Assyrian victory in order to survive.

It is probable that Josiah, who is thought to have been an unwilling vassal of Egypt for some years before then, had foreseen that the Babylonians would emerge the superior power and had thrown in his lot with them. Some reckon that he therefore went to Megiddo with the express intention of engaging in military action against Neco and the Egyptian army in order to detain them on their way north to help the Assyrians retake Haran. The delay Josiah intended to cause would hinder the progress of the Egyptian reinforcements towards the Assyrians and make a Babylonian victory more likely.

‘King Josiah marched out to meet him in battle, but Necho faced him and killed him at Megiddo.’ 2 Kgs 23:29b (NIV)

2 Chronicles makes no mention of the Assyrians but does say that Neco was heading for Carchemish in great haste (2 Chron 35:20-21).

Some scholars think that Josiah had been summoned to Megiddo by Neco. Neco had ascended the Egyptian throne just the previous year (610 BCE) and may have wished to meet and receive homage from his Judaean vassal. This type of request was standard procedure (e.g. Ahaz’s trip to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser, 2 Kgs 16:10) and, as Neco assured Josiah, was not an occasion for hostilities (2 Chron 25:31; 1 Esdras 1:26-27)

Whatever the motive, Josiah went to Megiddo with war in mind. Various reasons have been proposed:

a) he was filled with religious and nationalistic fervour as a result of his reforms. He was so keen to fight the old enemy, Egypt, that he was blind to reason.

b) he overestimated his military capabilities.

C) as has already been suggested, he calculated that there would be a change in the balance of international power in favour of the Babylonians and hoped to curry favour by obstructing the Egyptian armed forces on their way to assist the Assyrians.

According to 2 Kings 23:29-30 Josiah was killed at Megiddo and his dead body transferred from there by chariot to Jerusalem for burial.

According to 2 Chronicles 35:23-24 archers shot and mortally wounded him at Megiddo. His officers transferred him into another chariot which brought him to Jerusalem, where he died and was buried.

According to 1 Esdras 1:30-31 he was not injured or killed in battle but was overcome by a weakness, transferred to a second chariot and taken to Jerusalem, where he died and was buried: ‘The king said to his servants, “Take me away from the battle, for I am very weak.” And immediately his servants took him out of the line of battle. He got into his second chariot; and after he was brought back to Jerusalem he died, and was buried in the tomb of his ancestors.’ 1 Esdras 1:30-31

Pharaoh Neco went on to the Euphrates to help with the assault on Haran. Near Carchemish his forces were routed by the Babylonians. Neco and his army retreated and, on his way back to Egypt some three months later, Neco summoned Josiah’s son and successor Jehoahaz to his camp at Riblah on the Orontes (near Lebanon). He took Jehoahaz captive and transported him to Egypt, installing his brother Jehoiakim as an Egyptian puppet and vassal. Although he paid dearly for it, Josiah’s delaying action may have successfully caused Neco’s failure to save Assyria.

One might wonder how Josiah’s untimely demise squares with the oracle of Huldah the prophetess which appeared to promise him a good death (2 Kgs 22:20; 2 Chron 34:28). Upon closer inspection, however, Huldah’s prophecy only promised him a peaceful burial (‘thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace’ ) i.e. his country would not be at war.

Huldah’s prophecy provides one of the explanations given in the Bible for Josiah’s unexpected death. In those days in Judah the death of a king in battle would not have been regarded as heroic. Nor would it have been attributed to bad decision-making on his part or just plain ‘bad luck’. It would have been regarded as part of a chain of cause and effect. Evil behaviour resulted in punishment, righteous living was rewarded with prosperity and long life. According to this system of retribution Josiah must have done wrong! How could such a thing have happened to a righteous and godly young man whose life was marked by ‘goodness’ (2 Chron 35:26) and warranted the glowing assessment of 2 Kgs 23:25?

‘And like unto him was there no king before him, that 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; neither after him arose there any like him’

Three possible explanations (reading between the lines) were given:

1) Josiah did not listen to the word of God spoken through a foreign king – Pharaoh Neco.

‘Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself, that he might fight with him, and hearkened not unto the words of Necho from the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo’ 2 Chron 35:22

2) Josiah died because of his grandfather Manasseh’s sins.

‘Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched.’ 2 Kings 22:17

‘Notwithstanding the LORD turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal.’ 2 Kgs 23:26

3) Josiah’s death was a mercy.

According to Huldah’s prophecy (2 Kgs 22:20; 2 Chron 34:28) Josiah would have a peaceful burial. His country was not on a war footing and he was spared the distress of the forthcoming Babylonian invasion.


LESSONS:

a. Do not involve yourself in conflicts that do not concern the Lord’s people. Neco’s battle was with Babylon, not Judah.

b. Be open to the prompting and leading of the Lord through personal circumstances. Josiah died because he failed to recognize and heed God’s word through Pharoah Neco. Often God prompts through people and circumstances as well as through his written word.

See my posts:

King Josiah of Judah in 2 Kings

King Josiah of Judah in 2 Chronicles

King Josiah of Judah – Bibliography

Posted in Exposition

KING JOSIAH OF JUDAH in 2 Chronicles

Posted on by writtenexposition

READING: 2 Chronicles chapters 34-35

DIVISION

34:1-2 Opening Formula

34:3-5 Josiah’s religious purification of Jerusalem and Judah in his 12th regnal year

34:6-7 The extension of his activities to the northern tribal areas of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon, Naphtali, all Israel

34:8-18 Temple repairs and the finding of a torah scroll

34:19-28 Huldah’s oracle

34:29-32 Covenant-making

34:33 A summary verse

35:1-19 The Passover Celebration

35:20-27 The Death of King Josiah

THE JOSIAH ACCOUNT IN 2 CHRONICLES 34-35

34:1-2 Opening Formula

As in 2 Kings this introductory formula introduces the king and profiles his reign. Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign and the length of his reign was thirty-one years (640-609 BCE). He is commended for doing what was right in the sight of YHWH and like 2 Kgs 22:2 his name is linked with that of his ancestor David. The opening formula in 2 Kings gives us three facts; 1) his age at accession 2) the number of years he reigned 3) his mother’s name. The latter piece of information is not mentioned by the Chronicler. In both 2 Kings 22:2 and 2 Chron 34:2 Josiah is said to have deviated ‘neither to the right hand, nor to the left.’ Both formulae therefore immediately link Josiah to the book of Deuteronomy, where it is said that the model king should make a copy of the torah and read it all his life so that ‘he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left.’

See my post: ‘King Josiah of Judah in 2 Kings‘

34:3-5 Josiah’s religious purification of Jerusalem and Judah in his 12th year

Unlike the Kings account which seems unconcerned with chronology and telescopes the main events of Josiah’s career into just one year (his eighteenth), the Chronicler is at pains to emphasize that his reforms were a step-by-step process. According to 2 Chronicles 34:3 he had a religious awakening during his eighth regnal year (633/2 BCE) while he was still young (about 16 years of age). It was then that he began to seek YHWH. It does not seem that his advisers, whoever they were, during the early part of his reign were concerned to guide him in the ways of the Lord. Presumably, for the first sixteen years of his life, those advising him were pro-Assyrian, and his religious policies would therefore have been similar to those pursued by his father Amon. We are not told why it took him four years of ‘seeking after’ the Lord before launching his campaign to rid the land of idolatry in the twelth year of his reign. 2 Kings has the purge initiated following the discovery of a torah scroll in the Temple in his eighteenth year (621 BCE). Here in 2 Chronicles the reforms begin in his twelth year – a full six years before the discovery of the law-book. This sequence of events is the most noticeable difference between the accounts of 2 Kgs 22-23 and 2 Chron 34-35.

In his twelth year (c. 628 BCE), at age twenty, he began a purge aimed at ridding Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the groves, the carved idols and the cast images and restoring the pure worship of YHWH. Verses 3b-5 give a fuller explanation of what he did in Jerusalem and Judah. He personally supervised the destruction of places of idolatry, of the images themselves and of objects related to their worship. The high places must have been those which his grandfather Manasseh had rebuilt but at which the people only sacrificed to YHWH (33:3, 17). Verse 4 clearly states that the altars of the Baals were destroyed by him and that, as part of the same event, so were the images that were located high above them. It is not clear what these images were, possibly they had something to do with sun worship. The Chronicler does not record him purging the Jerusalem Temple, this had already been done by Manasseh ( 33:15-16). The purification of the temple mentioned in v. 8 would have been to sanctify it again through rituals after the completion of restoration works.

Verses 4b and 5 tell us that Josiah desecrated the graves of the idolatrous priests and burned their bones upon their altars. This was a crime for which the prophet Amos had denounced the king of Moab (Amos 2:1), yet the Chronicler passes no comment upon it. (cp. another passage about the disrespectful treatment of bones Jer 8:1-3). Perhaps this was seen as posthumous punishment for the idolaters, cremation being the punishment meted out to those regarded as false priests in Num16:35. Cremation is also prescribed as a punishment in Lev 20:14; 21:9 and Josh 7:25.

34:6-7 The extension of Josiah’s activities to the northern tribal areas of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon, Naphtali, all Israel

Taking advantage of Assyrian weakness at that time Josiah extended his campaign against idolatry into the territory that had been the Northern kingdom of Israel but was then part of the Assyrian empire. Although the Bible says little about his military exploits Josiah must have been strong enough to act independently and recover this territory from Assyrian control. The religious purge he conducted there was just as thorough as that in Judah:

‘In the towns of Manasseh, Ephraim and Simeon, as far as Naphtali, and in the ruins around them, he tore down the altars and the Asherah poles and crushed the idols to powder and cut to pieces all the incense altars throughout Israel. Then he went back to Jerusalem.’ 2 Chron 34:6-7 (NIV)

Thus Josiah set out on a personal, fanatical crusade against idolatry which, as clarified in 2 Kings 23:4-20, was implemented in three stages; 1) Judah and Jerusalem 2) Bethel 3) the towns of Samaria. Apart from the plural subject (they) at the beginning of v.4, the Chronicler, in 34:3-7, portrays Josiah himself as the one who toured the country systematically demolishing and burning;

‘he began to purge, he cut down, he broke..made dust, strewed, he burnt, so did he, when he had broken.’

2 Chron 34:4 and 2 Kgs 23:16 actually place him on site supervising the destruction.

34:8-18 Temple repairs and the finding of a torah scroll

The Chronicler comes now to the eighteenth year of Josiah which features so prominently in the 2 Kings account of his reign and relates the story of the finding of ‘a book of the law of the Lord given by Moses’ during restoration work on the Temple. Before this work by Josiah there seems to have been few changes made to the Temple since its construction by Solomon more than three hundred years earlier except;

* Some repairs by King Jehoash (2 Kgs 12:5-17).

* King Jotham built the upper gate of the temple (2 Kgs 15:35)

* King Ahaz made some structural changes on account of the king of Assyria (2 Kgs 16:17-18)

When money that had been given by people visiting the temple was brought out Hilkiah the priest found the law-book. This money appears to have been collected in large collection chests situated near the altar and watched over (2 Kgs 12:10; 22:4) by the ‘keepers of the threshold’ (Levites stationed at the door). Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan the scribe who told Josiah about it while reporting on the finances of the Temple restoration project. Shaphan then read ‘out of it’ to the king who was greatly affected by what he heard and instructed a committee to inquire of the Lord concerning the book.

34:19-28 Huldah’s oracle and 34:29-32 Covenant-making

For comments on the above topics see my post: ‘King Josiah of Judah in 2 Kings‘

34:33 A summary verse

This verse emphasizes the role of the king in the religious purges and emphasizes that he ‘made’ the people serve the Lord. Compelled by Josiah, the commitment of the people to YHWH was superficial, there had been no inner change; they were still idolators at heart. Is it any wonder that his reforms had no permanent results, but died along with him? The Chronicler adds a comment of his own: ‘And all his days they departed not from following the Lord, the God of their fathers.’ There was no open idolatry for the rest of Josiah’s reign.

35:1-19 The Passover Celebration see also 1 Esdras 1:1-22

This Passover celebration, expressing renewed commitment to YHWH, is given prominence in the Chronicles account whereas it is mentioned but briefly in 2 Kings 23:21-23. Prior to this families would have observed the Passover in their own homes. This Passover, however was a public celebration in Jerusalem (35:1), in accordance with Deut 16:1-5. According to the Chronicler, there had never been a Passover like it (35:18). Much the same was said of Hezekiah’s Passover (2 Chron 30:26). From v.1 we learn that Josiah held it on the 14th day of the first month (Nisan). That was the correct date; Hezekiah’s celebration had been held a month later, on the 14th of the second month (2 Chron 30:15), and had lasted for two weeks rather than one (2 Chron 30:23).

By way of preparation for the great Passover Josiah set in motion the Temple service. For some reason he had to ‘urge’ the priests to take up their duties. He also organised the Levites, changing their responsibilities since they no longer carried the ark, see point a). They were to assist the priests in the Temple worship and in flaying the sacrificial animals. They are identified in v. 3 as teachers in Israel, a role formerly fulfilled by the priests (Jer 18:18; Hos 4:6) The obligations of the Levites are listed as:

a) To take the Ark of the Covenant back to its place in the Temple (35:3). It must have been stored elsewhere while the renovations were ongoing. It would no longer be a burden upon their shoulders i.e. its location in the Temple would be permanent so other duties would be allocated to them (35:11).

b) To serve the Lord their God and his people Israel (35:3).

c) To arrange themselves by families into divisions as appointed and decreed by David and Solomon (35:4)

d) To stand in the holy place in groups representing the subdivisions of each family(35:5)

e) To slaughter the Passover lambs (35:6)

f) To consecrate themselves (35:6)

g) To prepare the lambs for their fellow-Israelites (35:6).

THE SACRIFICIAL ANIMALS

The king, representing the nation and as the leading worshipper of YHWH, the national God, was the major supplier of animals for sacrifice. For this Passover he is said to have contributed 30,000 flock animals (lambs and kids) and 3000 bullocks.

2600 small animals and 300 oxen were willingly supplied by three men ( Hilkiah, Zechariah, Jehiel) who, all at the one time, shared the title ‘chief of the Temple.’ In other references to this position only one official bore the title (1 Chron 9:11; 2 Chron 31:13; Neh 11;11).

Other chiefs (named in v.9) donated 5000 small animals and 500 oxen. The sacrificial victims therefore numbered 41,400; 37,600 small animals and 3800 large animals.

35:10-19 With the priests and Levites in appointed stations the Passover began. The Levites slaughtered the sacrificial animals and passed the blood on to the priests who sprinkled it upon the altar. As this was a public Passover the blood could not be sprinkled on the side posts and upper door posts of family homes (Ex 12:7). The Levites butchered the cattle and prepared the pieces for the burnt offerings. They also roasted the Passover and boiled the consecrated offerings – distributing the cooked meat among the people. Since the priests were busy with the burnt offerings they and the Levites did not partake until later. The musicians and doorkeepers (Temple security) participated without having to leave their posts. Th Chronicler gives an extravagantly positive assessment of the occasion saying that there was never a Passover like it.

It is interesting to read, compare and contrast the major biblical Passovers:

1. In Egypt – at the Exodus. Exod 12;1-51

2. At Sinai. Num 9:1-5

3. In Canaan. Josh 5:10-12

4. Hezekiah’s Passover. 2 Chron 30:1-27

5. Josiah’s Passover 2 Kgs 23:21-23; 2 Chron 35:1-19

6. After the return from exile. Ezra 6:19-21

35:20-27 The Death of King Josiah

We are told nothing about the final thirteen years of King Josiah’s life. His death as a result of a confrontation with Pharaoh Neco at Megiddo is recorded. He was buried in one of the royal tombs and mourned by all Judah and Jerusalem, including the prophet Jeremiah who wrote a lament for him. In 2 Chronicles Jeremiah is mentioned here (35;25) and also in 36:12, 22, and 22. We know from an oracle pronounced against Shallum (Jehoahaz), a son of Josiah, that Jeremiah considered Josiah to be a just man:

‘Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him? He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the LORD.’ Jer 22:15-16

See my posts:

King Josiah of Judah in 2 Kings

The Death of King Josiah of Judah

King Josiah of Judah – Bibliography

Posted in Exposition

KING JOSIAH OF JUDAH in 2 Kings

Posted on by writtenexposition

READINGS:

2 Kings 22:1 – 23:30;

2 Chronicles 33:25 – 35:27;

See also: 1 Esdras 1:1-33

INTRODUCTION

Although unknown to secular history, King Josiah of Judah is one of the most significant figures in the Old Testament. He figures prominently in 2 Kings (22:1-23:30) and in 2 Chronicles (chps 34-35). The author of the Book of Kings is particularly enthusiastic about him and his achievements: ‘Neither 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’ (2 Kgs 23:25). As well as the two accounts of Josiah’s career in the canonical books of 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles there is a third in the deuterocanonical book 1 Esdras (1:1-33). These three accounts differ from one another, most noticeably in the details surrounding Josiah’s death.

EARLY LIFE

Scant details are given in 2 Kings of the first seventeen years of Josiah’s life. He was the son of King Amon (642-640 BCE) of Judah (2 Kgs 21:26) by Jedidiah, daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath (2 Kgs 22:1). He probably remembered his grandfather Manasseh who, after a long reign (2 Kgs 21:1), died when Josiah was six years old.

His father Amon reigned for just two years before being assassinated by his own courtiers (2 Kgs 21:23). The biblical accounts do not give us the course of events leading up to the coup d’état that toppled Amon but it is thought that he continued the pro-Assyrian policies of his father Manasseh who had been a loyal vassal of Assyria for more than fifty years. Manasseh had not only tolerated but also encouraged pagan cults and practices, including divination, magic, sacred prostitution and human sacrifice. He even set up altars to the astral deities in the Temple of YHWH at Jerusalem (2 Kings 21:2-7; Zeph 1:4-6). According to the Chronicler, Amon was even more devoted to Assyrian religious practices than his father had been:

‘But he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as did Manasseh his father: for Amon sacrificed unto all the carved images which Manasseh his father had made, and served them; And humbled not himself before the LORD, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; but Amon trespassed more and more.’ 2 Chron 33:22-23

Those who conspired to kill Amon must have been anti-Assyrian and thought it a good time to rebel against the weakening Assyrian empire. It was struggling to quell uprisings in various parts of the empire at that time. Egypt was trying to gain control of Assyrian territory in Palestine and c. 639 laid siege to Ashdod, capital of Philistia, a province belonging to Assyria. The Arabian tribes and Acre and Ushu (mainland Tyre) revolted as did Elam. That Ashurbanipal brutally quelled these rebellions makes it seem likely that ‘the people of the land’, wishing to avoid military conflict with Assyria and the reprisals that would follow, successfully launched a counter-revolution. They executed those responsible for the regicide and installed Amon’s underage son Josiah as king. The status quo was thus restored and Assyria took no punitive action.

The child-king Josiah must have had a regent and/or a body of advisors but no details are given in the biblical record. The following officials are mentioned in the Josiah story and it may be that one or more of them acted on Josiah’s behalf.

Shaphan the scribe, son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam  2 Kgs 22:3

Ahikam the son of Shaphan  2 Kgs 22:12,14; 2 Chron 34:20

Maaseiah the governor of the city   2 Chron 34:8

Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder  2 Chron 34:8

Achbor the son of Michaiah   2 Kgs 22:12,14

Abdon the son of Micah  2 Chron 34:20

Hilkiah the High Priest   2 Kgs 22:4, 8,10,12;  2 Chron 34:9,14, 15,18, 20

THE JOSIAH ACCOUNT IN 2 KINGS 22:1-23:30

22:1-2 Introductory Formula

22:3-10 The Temple and the Torah scroll

22:11-13 King Josiah’s response to the scroll

22:14-20 Huldah’s oracle

23:1-3 Making a covenant

23:4-20, 24 Purging Judah’s worship

23:21-23 The Passover

23:25 A positive verdict on Josiah

23:26-27 A negative verdict on Jerusalem

23:28-30 Josiah’s death

22:1-2 Introductory Formula

This tells us that Josiah began to reign at age eight and was on the throne for a period of thirty-one years (640-609 BCE). His mother was Jedidah, daughter of Adaiah of Boscath. It also gives a glowing introductory assessment based on his devotion to YHWH, Israel’s God.

‘And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.’

This is essentially repeated in the closing verdict on Josiah given in 2 Kgs 23:25:

‘And like unto him was there no king before him, that 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; neither after him arose there any like him.’

A similar assessment was made of King Hezekiah in chapter 18:

‘He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him. For he cleaved to the LORD, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded — Moses.’ 2 Kgs 18:5-6

There is, however, a difference of emphasis in the assessment of the two kings. The author of Kings is acclaiming Hezekiah’s trust but he applauds Josiah’s repentance.

22:3-10 The Temple and the Torah scroll

In the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign (621 BCE) a programme of temple refurbishment was launched. Shaphan the scribe was appointed by the king to manage the project. His main responsibilities were the management of the finances for the building work and the payment of the tradesmen. He is the first of two main characters who feature in this section. The other is Hilkiah the High Priest. He reported to Shaphan his find of a torah scroll (the book of the law) in the temple (22:8). It must have lain in storage for years, the implication is that it had been long forgotten. Shaphan, in an audience with the king, unemotionally reported two main facts:

a) the financial arrangements had been carried out as required and the workmen had been paid.

b) the High Priest Hilkiah had found a scroll in the Temple.

The scroll was then read to King Josiah.

22:11-13 King Josiah’s response to the scroll

‘When the king had heard the words of the book of the law…he rent his clothes.’ The verb ‘to hear (šāma) has the idea of not just literally hearing but of also obeying. The most familiar passage in which the word is used is probably in Deut 6:4, where the instruction is not only to hear but also to do:

‘Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.’

THE BOOK

It is generally reckoned that ‘the book’ that was found in the Temple was a scroll of Deuteronomy. It is called ‘the book of the law’ (2 Kgs 22:8, 11), ‘the book of the covenant’ (2 Kgs 23:2; 21) and ‘a book of the law of the Lord given by Moses’ (2 Chron 34:14). That it certainly contained threats (for Josiah’s reaction was extreme) strongly suggests Deuteronomy (Deut 27:15-25; 28:15-68). Josiah found it unsettling that Judah’s indifference meant that the Lord was angry with the nation (v13).

Josiah’s response was to rend (tear) his clothes. This was a dramatic expression of either grief ( Gen 37:29; Job 1:20) or repentance (1 Kgs 21:27). In Josiah’s case it probably represented both. His response to the reading of the torah (law) scroll stands in marked contrast to the later reaction of King Jehoiakim to a scroll containing words of the prophet Jeremiah (Jer 36:23). He cut it up with a scribe’s knife and burned it. ‘Rent (tore)’ in 2 Kings 22:11 and ‘cut’ in Jeremiah 36:23 translate the same Hebrew word (qāra). Josiah was willing to listen and respond positively to the word of the Lord that he heard. He tore his clothes in distress and repentance, Jehoiakim cut the scroll in rejection of its message.

Josiah then arranged for a committee composed of five of his top advisors (Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Achbor the son of Michaiah, Shaphan the scribe, Asahiah the king’s attendant) to ‘inquire of the Lord’ concerning the contents of the book. ‘Inquire’ seems to have meant to seek oracular guidance from a prophet (1 Kgs 22:5-6; 2 Kgs 3:11).

22:14-20 Huldah’s oracle

The delegation went to see Huldah the prophetess. She was the wife of Shallum the keeper of the wardrobe (in the Temple or the palace?) and was therefore well-connected and well-known at the court. She is one of several female prophets in the Old Testament, the others being: Miriam (Ex 15:20), Deborah (Judg 4:4), Noadiah (Neh 6:14) and Isaiah’s wife (Isa 8:3). It is strange that the commissioners did not consult Jeremiah, whose ministry had begun five years earlier in the thirteenth year of Josiah (Jer 1:2).

Huldah’s oracle falls into two parts ( 2 Kgs 22:16-17, 19-20) , each preceded by an instruction that what followed was to be communicated to Josiah:

22:15 ‘And she said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Tell the man that sent you to me.’

22:18 ‘But to the king of Judah which sent — you to inquire of — the LORD, thus shall ye say to him, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, As touching the words which thou hast heard’

She begins by describing Josiah as ‘the man that sent you.’ Perhaps this was a reminder to the Near Eastern despot that in the sight of the Lord he was just ‘a man.’

Public Fate

The first part of the oracle deals with Jerusalem and the people of Judah. First, Jerusalem and its inhabitants are given notice that because they have not exclusively worshipped YHWH then the curses that are found in the book (Deut 27 & 28) will come upon them. There is no call for repentance in order that disaster might be averted. Their worship of other gods has provoked the anger of YHWH to such an extent that the judgement is certain. There will be no escape. God’s wrath ‘shall not be quenched.’

Personal Future

The second part of the oracle addresses King Josiah. He is given an assurance (introduced by ‘therefore’ 22:20) that because his heart is tender and that he has humbled himself before YHWH, has torn his clothes and wept and has ‘heard’ (listened and acted upon’) the message of coming destruction, he will be gathered into his grave in peace. Although not explicitly stated it seems likely, from subsequent events, that Huldah advised Josiah that should he lead the people back to obedience to YHWH then there would be a temporary stay of judgement. Joshua therefore went on to initiate national reform in the knowledge that it would not stop the inevitable judgement and on the understanding that it would not fall during his lifetime; he would have a peaceful death before it came to pass. This seems to contradict the violence of his death as recorded in 2 Kgs 23:29-30.

See my post ‘The Death of King Josiah of Judah‘

Josiah had sent the delegation to the respected prophetess Huldah in order that she might authenticate the scroll. This she did by a word from YHWH. It seems that from this point forward the written word assumes greater importance. The importance of the temple and its rituals seems to recede (23:27b), it will be of no use during the exile anyhow. Brueggemann (2000, p.550) observes:

‘…it is clear that Huldah’s prophetic function is to enhance and reinforce the Torah scroll. Everything turns on “the words of the scroll” (22:16). The threat against the city, she pro-
claims, is rooted in the scroll and is simply articulated by Huldah. The assurance to the king is because of “the words you have heard,” words of Torah (22:18). Clearly Huldah as a prophetess has no autonomous function or voice, but is dependent on the Torah…’

23:1-3 Making a covenant

Josiah called the elders of Judah and organised a great assembly at the Temple at which all the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem, both ‘small and great’ were present. It is not known exactly what function the ‘elders’ (tribal and family heads) had during the monarchy but they must have had a degree of authority in their communities and involvement in local issues.

During the assembly the torah scroll which had turned up in the Temple was read aloud. The public reading of documents was important in the ancient Near East where many people were illiterate. In view of the whole nation Josiah stood near a pillar in the ‘house of YHWH’, probably on a platform, and made a covenant before YHWH, to follow his commands, statutes and decrees with all his heart and soul. The people pledged obedience also. Thus Josiah officiated at a public religious act that did not involve Temple liturgy or sacrifice.

N. B. Covenant-making was a familiar concept in ancient Israel. In the Old Testament we read that God made covenants with individuals (Adam, Abraham, Moses, Aaron, David and Phinehas) and also with his special people, Israel. The most famous were the Mosaic covenants at Sinai (Exod 24:1-8) and Moab (Deut 29:1). There was also covenant-making by Joshua (Josh 24:1-28), Jehoiada/ King Jehoash (2 Kgs 11:17) and now by Josiah. In the Old Testament three types of relationships are called covenants: friendship (1 Sam 18:1-4), marriage (Mal 2:14) and international treaties (1 Kgs 5:12; Ezek 17:14). It is the latter type of covenant that is in view as regards the relationship between Israel and its national God YHWH.

23:4-20, 24 Purging Judah’s worship

2 Kgs 23:4-20 gives a catalogue of activities carried out by Josiah. It lists a series of extreme measures aimed at wiping out any religious practice that did not conform to the covenantal Yahwism of the book of Deuteronomy. 2 Kings gives the impression that these activities were influenced by the torah scroll that was found in the Temple (23:24). It is likely, however, that vv. 4-20 are a parenthesis giving details of religious cleansing that had already taken place long before the finding of the scroll in the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign. According to the 2 Chron 34:3-7 account it was ‘in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem…’ (34:3).

This inventory in 2 Kgs 23:4-20 falls into two parts; a) vv. 4-14 – purges in Judah and Jerusalem b) vv. 15-20 – purges in Samaria (the territory of the former Northern kingdom of Israel)

It is startling to read the wide range of idolatrous practices present in Judah until at that time and which were tolerated even in the temple and its precincts. They included worship of Baal, Asherah, Molech, the sun, astral deities and also three deities that in 23:13 are said to have been introduced by Solomon; Ashtoreth, Chemosh and Milcom. Equally startling is the passion and zeal, along with the ruthlessness and efficiency, with which Josiah eliminated these cults and their functionaries (23:7). He even entered the territory of the former state of Israel (ended 722 BCE) which was officially part of the Assyrian empire, then in decline.

23:21-23 The Passover

Until this point the author of 2 Kings has been reporting negative activities of Josiah under the influence of the torah scroll found in the Temple. These verses briefly note the only positive act of of reform by Josiah in the 2 Kings account of his life. This was a celebration of the Passover held at Jerusalem in Josiah’s eighteenth year. Much greater detail is given in 2 Chronicles chapter 35. According to 23:22 no such Passover had been observed in the days of the judges or of the kings of Israel and Judah. In fact, the previous occasion on which a Passover was celebrated is recorded in Josh 5:10.

23:25 A positive verdict on Josiah

After a further summary of Josiah’s purges (v24) which are said to have been in accordance with what was written in the law-book the author proceeds to give a glowing verdict on Josiah. He views him as the model king, there was none before like him, neither will there ever be another after him. Similar things were said of King Hezekiah (2 Kgs 18:3-6) and of Moses (Deut 34:10-12). Josiah ‘turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might’ (23:25). That seems fairly close to fulfilling the initial obligations of the Shema in Deut 6:5: ‘And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.’

23:26-27 A negative verdict on Jerusalem

The narrator has bad news for us. In spite of all the good that Josiah did, and the esteem in which he was held by the Lord, these were not sufficient to outweigh the harm done by one man, his grandfather Manasseh (2 Kgs 21:1-18). The disobedience to God’s law and the sins that he instigated have been so serious that nothing, not even Josiah’s piety and merits, can reverse the destruction that will come upon Jerusalem and Judah.

23:28-30 Josiah’s death

Josiah intercepted an Egyptian force at Megiddo and was mortally injured in battle.

See my posts:

King Josiah of Judah in 2 Chronicles

The Death of King Josiah of Judah

King Josiah of Judah – Bibliography

Posted in General

OUR DAYS ON EARTH

Posted on by writtenexposition

JOB 14:1-14

During the late 1960s and early 70s I attended an afternoon Sunday School in the old Harryville Gospel Hall, Ballymena, where we were encouraged to learn a memory verse every week. These were not usually random verses, but from a chapter of the Bible. Of all the chapters, for me, the most memorable of all was Job chapter 14. Mr. Wilson, our teacher, did not listen to us repeat the words of each verse just for the sake of it. He also explained the meaning, pressing home the truth that life is transitory; that we are not here to stay. Job chapter 14 reminds us that:


OUR DAYS ON EARTH ARE FEW


‘Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.’ (14:1)


This is a reality that we all must face. Psalm 90:10 tells us: ‘The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.’ This, of course, is neither a guarantee that everyone will live to seventy, nor does it teach that one must die on his or her seventieth birthday. Many never make it to seventy and also many live beyond that age. The point is that we are all going to die. Using the ballpark figure of seventy calendar years that God has given us we can each expect to live for 25,550 days. Having turned sixty-one in April I have already (as I write this) used up 22,300 of those days. You can do the calculation for your own age or, easier still, ask Google: ‘How many days since ? (Your date of birth).’ If you have already reached the age of seventy you are on borrowed time. In that case do not despair! Psalm 90:10 adds ‘and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years’. Again this figure is a generalisation making the point that those who live longer can still be productive after the age of seventy. Psalm 92:14 says of the righteous: ‘They shall still bring forth fruit in old age.’ Nevertheless, when we consider our life in terms of the number of days this sobering fact emerges: our days are few.


OUR DAYS ON EARTH ARE FLEETING


‘He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.’ (14:2)


Life is uncertain, and it passes away quickly and unexpectedly. We can plan as much as we want but our plans may never come to fruition. At the beginning of 2020 who would have thought that by May the whole country would have been in lockdown for at least two months and thousands of our fellow-citizens gone into eternity as a result of COVID-19? Proverbs 27:1 reminds us: ‘Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.’James 4:13-14 says: ‘Go to now, ye that say, To day or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.’Not one of us knows what is going to happen later today. Those who will die today, like all who have died in recent weeks, will have expected to live longer. Life is:


Like a vapour (James 4:14)

Like a weaver’s shuttle (Job 7:6)

Like the wind (Job 7:7)

Like a shadow (Job 8:9)

Like a royal carrier delivering a letter (Job 9:25)

Like a swift boat or an eagle in flight (Job 9:26)

Like a flower. (Job 14:2)


OUR DAYS ON EARTH ARE FIXED


‘Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;’ (14:5)


Only God knows the number of days that each of us will spend on earth. The Psalmist (31:15a) said: ‘My times are in thy hand.’ Each of us has an allotted span of time. God knows when our souls and spirits will leave these bodies. He also knows the circumstances surrounding these departures. We do not. Yet those appointments have already been made. They are in his calendar and they are unalterable and unavoidable. Hebrews 9:27 tells us: ‘And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.’


OUR DAYS ON EARTH ARE FINAL


‘If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.’ (14:14)


We have only one life on earth. A few days! How shall we spend them? There are no reruns, no second chances, no reincarnation. No more opportunities to serve the Lord. That makes life very serious. It is sacred, too, because it is given to us by God (Acts 17:25). ‘He gives to all life and breath and all things.’ Life is a wonderful thing; a blessing from God. We must give account to him for the use we make of it. We should therefore spend it wisely. Moses wrote in Psalm 90:12: ‘So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.’Our time here is limited. The years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, and seconds that we have left are counting down. We have several options: waste them, spend them or invest them (Mt 6:19-20). Which will it be?

Posted in General

THE PSALM OF JONAH

Posted on by writtenexposition

‘I called out to the LORD, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.’ Jonah 2:2 ESV

The book of Jonah is a strange and unusual little book that is well-known and loved by children and adults alike. It has always been classed as one of the prophetic books but the only prophecy it contains consists of just five Hebrew words which in English read: ‘Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown’. Otherwise it is the story of Jonah, a prophet from Gath-hepher near Nazareth who ministered early in the reign of King Jeroboam II of Israel (northern kingdom), possibly around 775 BCE (2 Kings 14:25). He was called by the Lord to go to Nineveh and preach a message of repentance to Assyria; Israel’s greatest enemy at that time. Full of prejudice Jonah did not want the Assyrians to experience the love and grace of God so he fled in the opposite direction, with no intention of completing the task (1:3).

The book divides into two parts. Chapters one and two deal with the Lord’s command to preach to Nineveh, Jonah’s flight from God and his submarine experience in the belly of a great fish. This came to an end following his prayer three days and nights later. Chapters three and four record the sequel to his delivery from this ordeal; including a renewed command to preach and his still-grudging attempt to accomplish his mission.

One might ask why Jonah waited in his distressing situation for three days and nights before praying but, whatever the reason, we have in chapter 2:3-10 a lovely poetic psalm (hymn of praise or thanksgiving) in which Jonah acknowledged that ‘salvation is of the Lord’ (2:9). Jonah’s psalm is full of scripture, there are many allusions to the Book of Psalms itself, which shows us that Jonah was familiar with, and greatly influenced by, the word of God that was available to him at that time. It is a pity that he was unwilling to share it with others.

So often we are like Jonah in our disobedience, in our lack of concern for friends and neighbours, in our dissatisfaction at how God works, and in our selfishness and pride. After correcting us, however, God is patient and quick to forgive.

‘Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty:’ Job 5:17

Jonah was afflicted because he was disobedient, stubborn and selfish.

  1. God afflicts us because He is faithful. ‘I know, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.’ Psa 119:75
  2. God afflicts us when we go astray. ‘Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word.’ Psa 119:67
  3. It can be profitable to be afflicted. ‘It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.’ Psa 119:71

This Psalm of Jonah was a very personal prayer of recognition, repentance and request. He was close to death, and knew it. In the midst of his anxiety and fear and in his desperate situation he realized that God’s plan for his life was better than that. In our current situation we too might see no future and no hope. Our circumstances leave us feeling exhausted or defeated. We ask: ‘What can we do?’ ‘Will things ever get better than this?’ ‘Is this all that lies ahead for us?’ ‘Where can we find deliverance from the struggles we are having now?’

Jonah must have been asking himself questions like these. How did he find the solution?

Jonah realized that he was in trouble. ‘There is a problem here.’ Jonah realized that he needed help. ‘Fixing this myself is impossible.’
Jonah turned to the only one who could help him. ‘Salvation is of the Lord.’

Jonah prayed with a sense of urgency and deep need. He realized that he had no hope of escape from his dreadful situation, that he was unable to save himself and that if he was to be saved, only the Lord could bring it about. He said, “I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord.” What was the result? Twice in verse 2 we read that the Lord heard him. May we be encouraged by this today.