Josiah

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

("supported or healed by Jehovah".)

1. Son of Amon and Jedidab; began to reign at eight years old (641 B.C.) and reigned 31 years, to 610 B.C. (2 Kings 22 to 24; 2 Chronicles 34-35). The first 12 chapters of Jeremiah may refer to this period. At the age of 16, "while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father." Since Amon was wicked it is likely that Jedidah ("beloved"), like Lois and Eunice ( 2 Timothy 1:5), had early instilled into her child pious principles which bore fruit betimes, for in spite of the closing error which cost him his life the Holy Spirit, who remembers the graces and ignores the exceptional fails of believers, testifies "he declined neither to the right hand nor to the left." At the age of 20, in the 12th year of his reign, he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places or Asherah, and images of the sun and Baal, and strewed their dust on the graves of their former worshippers. (See Grοvεs.)

The events of the purging out idolatry, the temple repair, and the finding of the law, in Kings are arranged according to subject matter; but in Chronicles chronologically. The repairing of the temple recorded  2 Kings 22:3-7, in a period by itself, subordinate to the discovery of the law, in the 18th year of Josiah's reign, must have been chronologically before that date, since in that year the builders were already repairing and the money for the work had been collected by the Levites who kept the door. The abolishing of the idols must have begun before the people made the covenant ( 2 Kings 23:3). The discovery of the law Hilkiah quickened his zeal in abolishing them throughout the whole kingdom.(See Hilkiah .) In 2 Kings their suppression is narrated more minutely, the Passover celebration is summarized; in Second Chronicles their suppression is summarized ( 2 Chronicles 34:3-7;  2 Chronicles 34:33), but the Passover fully described ( 2 Chronicles 35:1-19).

Josiah spared not even the high places which pious Hezekiah had left, nor those of Solomon in his apostasy, nor their priests (Chemarim), as  Zephaniah 1:4 foretold; also Manasseh his grandfather's grove (Asherah) in the Lord's house ( 2 Kings 21:7;  2 Kings 23:6). He defiled Tophot in the valley of the children of Hinnom, where the people used to make their children pass through the fire to Moloch; and burned the chariots of the sun, and took away the stored horses, and destroyed Ahaz' altars on the housetop. (See Hinnom .) He fulfilled on the Bethel calf altar the prophecy of the man of God to Jeroboam, given three centuries before, and declaring his very name (as Isaiah did that of Cyrus ages before), but respected the prophet's sepulchre (1 Kings 13). His purgation thus extended to northern Israel as far as Naphtali, as well as to Judah. It was in repairing the temple that Moses' copy of the law, in his own handwriting, or at, least the original temple copy from his, was found. That the law was not previously unknown appears from the king's conduct on its discovery.

He at once accepted its authority without mistrust as genuine and authentic; and read or caused it to be read in the ears of all the men of Judah, the priests and the prophets ("Levites" in  2 Chronicles 34:30). These too all accepted it, evidently because they and he had always recognized its truths generally (as his extirpation of idolatry already implied), but now he and they are brought into immediate contact, as it were, with Moses himself, through the original temple copy. His tenderness of heart (conscience) and his humbling himself before God with tears and rent garments brought God's promise through Huldah that he should be "gathered to his grave in peace," and "should not see the evil God was about to bring on" Jerusalem. It is true he fell in battle; but his remains were (and were the last) buried in his fathers' sepulchres "in peace," before seeing the enemy overthrow his capital (compare  Jeremiah 34:5;  Isaiah 57:1-2). "Because thou humblest thyself when thou heardest what I spake ... I also have heard thee." God is toward men what they are toward Him ( Psalms 18:25-26).

In this same year, the 26th of his age, the 18th of his reign, Josiah and his people entered into a covenant to keep the law of Jehovah with all their heart and all their soul ( 2 Kings 23:3;  2 Chronicles 34:31-33). His only fault was his supposition that by frustrating Necho's expedition to the Euphrates against Assyria he might avert God's predicted judgment on Judah. He scarcely realized the depth of Israel's apostasy, and hoped his reformation would enlist God's cooperation against the Egyptians. Nineveh was falling, if not already fallen. The Syrian princes, those independent as Josiah as well as Assyria's vassals, hoped now to be free from every foreign yoke; it was therefore necessary now to check the Egyptian, for though Necho was not marching against Judah but against Carchemish by Euphrates, Josiah knew that if once the Egyptians gained Coelosyria his independence would be gone.

Necho appealed in vain to Josiah to leave him alone, as it was "against the house of his war" (his hereditary enemy) that he was marching, and that God commanded him, so that if Josiah interfered he would be "meddling with God." He thought the reference to God would have weight with Josiah. Of course Pharaoh's view of the Godhead was distinct from Josiah's. Josiah forgot his ancestor Solomon's inspired counsel ( Proverbs 17:14;  Proverbs 26:17). Josiah's reformation had not removed the deep seated evil (as Jeremiah and Zephaniah testify), so that the deceased Manasseh's sin, acting still far and wide though hiddenly now, awaited God's fierce anger on Jerusalem, as he was warned by God through Huldah ( 2 Kings 22:16-20). Hence Josiah was permitted, not without culpability on his part, to meddle in the ungodly world's wars, and so to fall, and with himself to withdraw the last godly ruler from the people henceforth given over to punishment ( 2 Kings 23:25-30).

Necho came by sea to Palestine, landing at Accho. If he had come by Philistia Josiah would have met him there, and not allowed him to advance to Megiddo. There, in the great battle field of Palestine, Esdraelon plain, Necho, when they met face to face, slew him. Josiah was carried wounded from Hadadrimmon to die before be reached Jerusalem. He was buried with every honour, and Jeremiah composed a dirge, annually chanted at Hadadrimmon (not the "Lamentations" over Jerusalem after its fall). Compare  Jeremiah 22:10 "weep not for the dead, neither bemoan him" (namely, Josiah slain at Megiddo or Magdolum in Herodotus); he is at peace. The church, while potent in the world for God, must not descend to the world's level and use the world's weapons for even a good end. Her controversy must first be with herself so long as corruption is in her, and then she must yield herself to God to be wielded by Him in the world for His glory.

Antichrist superseding spiritual Babylon appropriately falls at Armageddon, i.e. the hill of Megiddo, the scene of godly Josiah's fall through descending to the world's carnal strifes as Babylon's ally ( Revelation 16:14-18); the Jews' future mourning for Him whom they pierced, before God's interposition against all nations confederate against Jerusalem, answers to their mourning for Josiah at Megiddo ( Zechariah 12:10-11). Josiah's greatness harmonizes with the parallel decline and fall of Assyria. Josiah exercised a sovereignty over Samaria and Galilee ( 2 Chronicles 34:6), besides Judah. In 633 B.C. the Medes attacked Nineveh. Then the Scythians (from whom Bethshan got its Greek name Scythopolis) desolated western Asia. Then Egypt cast off the Assyrian yoke, and Psammetik I attacked southern Syria. Finally, in 626 or 624 B.C., the Medes, Babylonians, and Susianians destroyed Nineveh and divided the empire.This gave Josiah the opportunity to free Judah from the Assyrian yoke which his grandfather had borne, and to enlarge his kingdom. (See for further illustrations of the Scripture harmony with secular history, Necho .)

2. Josiah, son of Zephaniah Cheen ("grace") ( Zechariah 6:9;  Zechariah 6:15). At his house in Jerusalem the three from Babylon were guests, from whom Zechariah by God's command took silver and gold to make crowns for the high priest Joshua's head.

Bridgeway Bible Dictionary

After fifty-five years rule of the wicked Manasseh, plus two years rule of his equally wicked son Amon, Judah’s spiritual condition was the worst it had ever been (see Manasseh, King Of Judah ) Josiah became king when his father Amon was assassinated (640 BC) but, being only eight years old at the time, he was for some years under the direction of government officials ( 2 Chronicles 33:25;  2 Chronicles 34:1). At the age of sixteen he became a believer in the one true God, and at the age of twenty he began religious reforms that lasted many years ( 2 Chronicles 34:2-5).

Religious affairs

One possible influence that led Josiah to begin his reforms was the preaching of the prophet Zephaniah ( Zephaniah 1:1). Another prophet, Jeremiah, began his ministry in the early years of Josiah’s reforms ( Jeremiah 1:1-2;  Jeremiah 3:6).

During the evil days of Manasseh, the temple in Jerusalem had been damaged and the law of God forgotten. In the sixth year of Josiah’s reforms, workmen repairing the temple found scrolls of this long-forgotten law. Josiah was shocked to find how far Judah had departed from God. He soon learnt that the nation was heading for judgment, but God encouraged him to continue his reforms, so that the people might turn to God and avoid the threatened judgment ( 2 Kings 22:3-20).

With this encouragement from God, Josiah gathered Jerusalem’s leading citizens together at the temple, where the law was read to them. He gained their support in renewing the nation’s covenant with God and in helping his ongoing reforms ( 2 Kings 23:1-3). An increasingly confident Josiah then destroyed all false shrines and other idolatrous objects throughout the country, and centralized the nation’s public worship in Jerusalem, where it was under his supervision ( 2 Kings 23:4-14;  2 Kings 23:24;  2 Chronicles 34:6-7). He burnt the bones of the false prophets on their altar, after which he destroyed it ( 2 Kings 23:15-20; cf.  1 Kings 13:1-3;  1 Kings 13:29-32).

Having removed idolatry, Josiah re-established the worship of Yahweh by keeping the Passover. This gave him the opportunity to organize the priests and Levites according to the order set out by David. He wanted to make sure that the entire worship procedure was conducted properly. The nation’s leading officials joined Josiah in providing large numbers of sacrificial animals for the festival. It was the most spectacular Passover ever seen in Jerusalem ( 2 Chronicles 35:1-19).

Political affairs

One factor that assisted Josiah in carrying out such wide-sweeping reforms was the decline of Assyria. He was even able to extend his control into areas of the former northern kingdom that Assyria had conquered ( 2 Kings 23:15;  2 Kings 23:19;  2 Chronicles 34:6-7).

Assyria eventually fell to Babylon in 612 BC. Pharaoh Necho of Egypt, fearing this expansion of Babylonian power, set out to attack Babylon. In doing so he had to pass through areas of Palestine that Judah controlled, so Josiah tried to resist him. The result was that Josiah was killed in battle (609 BC) and Judah fell temporarily under the overlordship of Egypt ( 2 Kings 23:29-30;  2 Chronicles 35:20-27).

Josiah was only thirty-nine years old when he died ( 2 Kings 22:1). Those of his people who later suffered under the cruel hand of his son Jehoiakim looked back with gratitude on his compassion and justice ( 2 Chronicles 35:25;  Jeremiah 22:15-19). Josiah won unqualified praise for his reforms ( 2 Kings 23:25), but few people were genuinely converted. Idolatrous ideas were so deeply rooted in the people’s hearts that judgment on the nation was inevitable ( 2 Kings 23:26-27).

Holman Bible Dictionary

 2 Kings 21:19-23 2 Chronicles 33:21-24 2 Kings 21:24 2 Kings 22:1 2 Chronicles 34:1

The Book of 2Chronicles reveals much about the early years of Josiah. In his eighth year as king he began to seek the God of David ( 2 Chronicles 34:3 ). Josiah initiated a religious purge of Jerusalem, Judah, and surrounding areas during his twelfth year on the throne ( 2 Chronicles 34:3-7 ). This purge included tearing down the high places, the Asherah, and the altars to Baal. The high places were essentially Canaanite worship centers that had been taken over by Israel. The Asherah were cult objects associated with the worship of Baal, the fertility god of Canaan. See Asherah .

In his eighteenth year as king an unexpected event turned his energies in new directions. A “Book of the Law” was discovered while repairs were being made on the Temple. Hilkiah, the high priest, found the book and gave it to Shaphan, the scribe, who in turn read it to King Josiah. Upon hearing the message of the book, Josiah tore his clothes, a sign of repentance, and humbled himself before God. Josiah was assured that the promised destruction would not come in his time ( 2 Kings 22:8-20;  2 Chronicles 34:15-28 ). The reading of this book prompted Josiah to instigate the most far-reaching religious reforms in Israel's history.

What was this “Book of the Law” and when was it written? Most scholars believe that this book included at least the core of our present Book of Deuteronomy, either  2 Chronicles 5-26 or 12-26. A major thrust of the Book of Deuteronomy was to call the nation Israel to exclusive loyalty to Yahweh. Perhaps a thrust such as this inspired the Josianic revival.

The Bible is silent about the remaining years of Josiah until his death. On the international scene during those years Assyria's power was waning, and Babylon's was on the rise. Assyria had aligned itself with Egypt against Babylon. Pharoah Neco's troups were passing through territory north of Judah en route to join forces with Assyria. Josiah's army blocked the movement of Egyptian troups at Megiddo. In the battle that followed Josiah was mortally wounded ( 2 Kings 23:29 ). His body was taken to Jerusalem where he was buried. There was great mourning for him throughout the land ( 2 Chronicles 35:24-25 ). Though only thirty-nine when he died, Josiah was remembered as Judah's greatest king ( 2 Kings 23:25 ):

“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 the Law of Moses” (NIV).

See Jeremiah; Deuteronomy.

M. Stephen Davis

Morrish Bible Dictionary

1. Son and successor of Amon king of Judah: he reigned thirty-one years, B.C. 641-610. He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord. He began to reign when eight years old, and at the age of sixteen he sought after God. When he was about twenty years old he began to destroy all the high places, and groves, and images, and altars. He burnt the bones of the priests of Baalim upon their altars, as foretold in  1 Kings 13:2 . These things he did not only in Judah but also in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali.  2 Kings 22:1,2;  2 Chronicles 34:1-7 .

Having purged the land of idolatry he set his hand to repair the house of the Lord. While this was in progress Hilkiah the priest found a copy of the law, which had evidently been lost sight of. It was read to the king, who was so moved on hearing its precepts, and knowing how they had been violated, that he rent his clothes, and sent to inquire of the Lord. The answer was that the evil and the curses found in the book should fall upon the people; but, because Josiah's heart was tender, and he had humbled himself, the judgement should not be executed in his days. He then assembled all the people at the temple; made them hear the law, and renew the covenant of obedience to Jehovah their God. And it is added that "all his days they departed not from following the Lord, the God of their fathers."  2 Kings 22:3-20;  2 Kings 23:1-20;  2 Chronicles 34:8-33 .

In the eighteenth year of Josiah, the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were kept. The ark was restored to its place in the temple, from which apparently it had been removed for some purpose. The testimony is that "there was no Passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet." Thus was Josiah enabled to recall the people to a sense of their responsibility, and to the means of their communion with God in the ordinance of the Passover.  2 Kings 23:21-28;  2 Chronicles 35:1-19 .

In the thirty-first year of his reign, Josiah, perhaps from fidelity to former treaties with Assyria, went out to oppose the king of Egypt when he himself was in no way attacked; and, though warned 'from the mouth of God,' he persisted in his purpose. He disguised himself, yet he was wounded and died. Jeremiah lamented for him and the singers also in their songs.  2 Chronicles 35:20-26 . His reign was like the last shining of God's lamp in Judah: though he had zealously followed the Lord, the heart of the people was not changed.  Jeremiah 3:6-10 : cf. Zephaniah. In  Matthew 1:10,11 the name is Josias

2. Son of Zephaniah, at whose house Zechariah assembled the chief men of the captivity when Joshua the son of Josedech was crowned.  Zechariah 6:10 .

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 2 Kings 22:1 2 Chronicles 34:1 2 Kings 2223,23 2 Chronicles 34:3 Jeremiah 25:3,11,29

In the eighteenth year of his reign he proceeded to repair and beautify the temple, which by time and violence had become sorely dilapidated ( 2 Kings 22:3,5,6;  23:23;  2 Chronicles 34:11 ). While this work was being carried on, Hilkiah, the high priest, discovered a roll, which was probably the original copy of the law, the entire Pentateuch, written by Moses.

When this book was read to him, the king was alarmed by the things it contained, and sent for Huldah, the "prophetess," for her counsel. She spoke to him words of encouragement, telling him that he would be gathered to his fathers in peace before the threatened days of judgment came. Josiah immediately gathered the people together, and engaged them in a renewal of their ancient national covenant with God. The Passover was then celebrated, as in the days of his great predecessor, Hezekiah, with unusual magnificence. Nevertheless, "the Lord turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah" ( 2 Kings 22:3-20;  23:21-27;  2 Chronicles 35:1-19 ). During the progress of this great religious revolution Jeremiah helped it on by his earnest exhortations.

Soon after this, Pharaoh-Necho II. (q.v.), king of Egypt, in an expedition against the king of Assyria, with the view of gaining possession of Carchemish, sought a passage through the territory of Judah for his army. This Josiah refused to permit. He had probably entered into some new alliance with the king of Assyria, and faithful to his word he sought to oppose the progress of Necho.

The army of Judah went out and encountered that of Egypt at Megiddo, on the verge of the plain of Esdraelon. Josiah went into the field in disguise, and was fatally wounded by a random arrow. His attendants conveyed him toward Jerusalem, but had only reached Hadadrimmon, a few miles south of Megiddo, when he died ( 2 Kings 23:28,30; Compare  2 Chronicles 35:20-27 ), after a reign of thirty-one years. He was buried with the greatest honours in fulfilment of Huldah's prophecy ( 2 Kings 22:20; Compare  Jeremiah 34:5 ). Jeremiah composed a funeral elegy on this the best of the kings of Israel ( Lamentations 4:20;  2 Chronicles 35:25 ). The outburst of national grief on account of his death became proverbial ( Zechariah 12:11; Compare  Revelation 16:16 ).

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

king of Judah, deserves particular mention on account of his wisdom and piety, and some memorable events that occurred in the course of his reign. He succeeded to the throne, upon the assassination of his father Amon, at the age of eight years, B.C. 640; and at a period when idolatry and wickedness, encouraged by his father's profligate example, very generally prevailed. Josiah, who manifested the influence of pious and virtuous principles at a very early age, began, in his sixteenth year, to project the reformation of the kingdom, and to adopt means for restoring the worship of the true God. At the age of twenty years he vigorously pursued the execution of the plans which he had meditated. He began with abolishing idolatry, first at Jerusalem, and then through different parts of the kingdom; destroying the altars which had been erected, and the idols which had been the objects of veneration and worship. He then proceeded, in his twenty-sixth year, to a complete restoration of the worship of God, and the regular service of the temple. While he was prosecuting this pious work, and repairing the temple, which had been long neglected, and which had sunk into a state of dilapidation, the book of the law, which had been concealed in the temple, was happily discovered. This was, probably, a copy of the Pentateuch, which had been lodged there for security by some pious priest in the reign of Ahaz or Manasseh. Josiah, desirous of averting from himself and the kingdom threatened judgments, determined to adhere to the directions of the law, in the business of reformation which he had undertaken; and to observe the festivals enjoined by Moses, which had been shamefully neglected. With this view he assembled all the elders of the people in the temple at Jerusalem; and, having ascended the throne, read the book of the Mosaic law, and then entered into a solemn covenant to observe the statutes and ordinances which it enjoined. To this covenant the whole assembly testified their consent. The ark was restored to its proper place; the temple was purified; idolatrous utensils were removed, and those appropriate to the worship of God substituted in their room. After these preparations, the passover was observed with singular zeal and magnificence. This took place in the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign: but, in pursuing his laudable plans of reformation, he was resisted by the inveterate habits of the Israelites; so that his zealous and persevering efforts were ineffectual. Their degeneracy was so invincible, that the almighty Sovereign was provoked to inflict upon them those calamities which were denounced by the Prophet Zephaniah. In the thirty-second year of Josiah's reign, Pharaoh-Necho, king of Egypt, advanced with his army against Carchemish, a city situated on the river Euphrates. He was opposed by the king of Judah; so that a bloody battle ensued at Megiddo, in which Josiah received a mortal wound, which terminated in his death, after he had been conveyed to Jerusalem, in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, B.C. 609. His death was greatly lamented by all his subjects; and an elegy was written on the occasion by the Prophet Jeremiah, which is not now extant, 2 Kings 22, 23; 2 Chronicles 34, 35.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Josi'ah. (Whom Jehovah Heals).

1. The son of Amon and Jedidah, succeeded his father B.C. 641, in the eighty years of his age, and reigned 31 years. His history is contained in  2 Kings 22:1;  2 Kings 24:30;  2 Chronicles 34:1;  2 Chronicles 35:1, and the first twelve chapters of Jeremiah throw much light upon the general character of the Jews in his day. He began in the eighth year of his reign to seek the Lord; and in his twelfth year, and for six years afterward, in a personal progress throughout all the land of Judah and Israel, he destroyed everywhere high places, groves, images and all outward signs and relics of idolatry.

The Temple was restored under a special commission; and in the course of the repairs, Hilkiah, the priest, found that book of the law of the Lord which quickened so remarkably the ardent zeal of the king. He was aided by Jeremiah, the prophet, in spreading through his kingdom, the knowledge and worship of Jehovah .

The great day of Josiah's life was the day of the Passover in the eighteenth year of his reign. After this, his endeavors to abolish every trace of idolatry and superstition were still carried on; but the time drew near which had been indicated by Hulda,.  2 Kings 22:20, when Pharaoh-necho went from Egypt to Carchemish to carry on his war along the seacoast. Necho reluctantly paused and gave him battle in the valley of Esdraelon. Josiah was mortally wounded, and died before he could reach Jerusalem. He was buried with extraordinary honors.

2. The son of Zephaniah, at whose house took place the solemn and symbolical crowning of Joshua the high priest.  Zechariah 6:10. (B.C. about 1520).

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

JOSIAH. 1. King of Judah, who succeeded his father Amon when only eight years old (  2 Kings 22:1 ). The religious condition of the people, which was bad under Amon, continued without essential improvement, so far as we know, until the eighteenth year of Josiah. The sudden change then made resulted from the finding of the Book of Instruction in the Temple (  2 Kings 22:8 ff.); but it is possible that the minds of king and people were prepared for it by the Scythian invasion. The demand of the book for a thorough reformation powerfully affected the king and his officers. The book was read publicly, and king and people entered into a solemn covenant to act according to its injunctions. Its central demand was the removal of all altars in the country except the one at Jerusalem. This was henceforth to be the only sanctuary in Judah. The carrying out of this programme is related in detail, and we learn that the conclusion of the work was marked by the celebration of the Passover in a new manner and with unusual solemnity (  2 Kings 23:21 ff.).

Josiah’s reign was characterized by justice, as we learn from Jeremiah, but we know no more of it until the end of the king’s life. The Assyrian empire was tottering to its fall, and Pharaoh-necho thought to seize the provinces nearest him and attach them to Egypt. He therefore invaded Palestine with an army. Josiah was ill-advised enough to attempt resistance. In the battle which ensued he was slain ( 2 Kings 23:29 ). His motive in undertaking this expedition has been much discussed. Probably he hoped to restore the real independence of Judah. That he was beloved by his people is indicated by their deep and long-continued mourning.

2. Son of Zephaniah (  Zechariah 6:10 ).

H. P. Smith.

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Josiah ( Jo-Sî'Ah ), whom Jehovah Heals. One of the pious kings of Judah. He reigned 31 years, b.c. 640-610. He ascended the throne at the early age of eight years, and before his eighteenth year he had cut off and destroyed all the idols of the land, with their temples, groves, and monuments; and had ransacked the sepulchres of the idolatrous priests, and burned their bones upon the altars, in accordance with the prophecy of the man of God, announced in the presence of Jeroboam 326 years before Josiah was born.  1 Kings 13:2;  2 Kings 22:1-2;  2 Chronicles 34:1-2. In the prosecution of the thorough repair and purification of the temple, Hilkiah "found the book of the Law of the Lord by Moses." Josiah immediately convoked the whole realm, and in person read the book of the Law to them, and exacted from them a promise to obey it.  2 Kings 22:8-20;  2 Chronicles 34:14-33. The Scythians are supposed to have invaded Palestine between the thirteenth and the eighteenth year of his reign. Josiah was mortally wounded at Megiddo, and died at Jerusalem. Jeremiah the prophet was greatly affected by it, and composed an elegy on the occasion,  2 Chronicles 35:25, and all those accustomed to celebrate in song the worth and achievements of men of great eminence, both men and women, mourned for Josiah for ages after his death. Indeed, the mourning was such as to become proverbial.  Zechariah 12:11. He was only 39 years of age when he died.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

Son of Amon and great-grandson of Hezekiah, a pious king of Judah, who introduced great reforms in the temple worship, and in the religious character of the nation in general. No king set himself more earnestly to destroy every vestige of idolatry out of the land. Among other things, he defiled the altars of the idols at Bethel by burning upon them the bones from the tombs of their deceased priests; as had been foretold more than three centuries before,  1 Kings 13:2 . While cleaning and repairing the temple at his command, the priests found the temple copy of the five books of the law, perhaps the original copy from Moses' own hand. The sacred book was too much neglected in those days of declension; and even the pious Josiah seems to have been impressed by the closing chapters of Deuteronomy as though he had never read them before. To avert the judgments there threatened, he humbled himself before God, and sought to bring the people to repentance. He caused them to renew their covenant with Jehovah, and celebrated the Passover with a solemnity like that of its first institution. The repentance of the people was heartless, and did not avert the divine judgments. Josiah, however, was taken away from the evil to come. He met death in battle with Pharaohnecho, whose passage across his territory to attack the king of Assyria, Josiah felt obliged to resist. The death of this wise and pious king was deeply lamented, by the prophet Jeremiah and all the people,  Zechariah 12:11 . He began to reign B. C. 641, at the age of eight years, and reigned thirty-one years,  2 Kings 22:1-23:37   2 Chronicles 34:1-35:27 .

Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary

Son of Amon, king of Judah, ( 2 Kings 22:1, etc.) The name signifies, the fire of the Lord; from Esh, fire; and Jah, the Lord.

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

JOSIAH. —The well-known king of Judah, named in our Lord’s genealogy ( Matthew 1:10 f.).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

jṓ - sı̄´a ( יאשׁיּהוּ , yō'shı̄yāhū , "Yahweh supports him"; Ἰωσείας , Iōseı́as  ; the King James Version Josias (which see)):

I. Sources For His Life And Times

1. Annalistic

2. Prophetic

3. Memorial

II. Traits Of His Reign

1. Situation at the Beginning

2. Finding of the Law

3. The Great Reform

4. Disaster at Megiddo

The name given 6 years before the death of his grandfather Manasseh resumes the Judaic custom, suspended in the case of that king and Amon, of compounding royal names with that of Yahweh; perhaps a hint of the time, when, according to the Chronicler, Manasseh realized Yahweh's claim on his realm ( 2 Chronicles 33:12 ,  2 Chronicles 33:13 ). One of the most eminent of the kings of Judah; came to the throne at 8 years of age and reigned circa 637-608 BC.

I. Sources for His Life and Times.

1. Annalistic:

The earliest history ( 2 Kings 22:1 ) is dispassionate in tone, betraying its prophetic feeling, however, in its acknowledgment of Yahweh's wrath, still menacing in spite of Josiah's unique piety ( 2 Kings 23:26 ,  2 Kings 23:27 ). For "the rest of his acts" (to which the rather bald account of his death is relegated as a kind of appendix), it refers to "the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah." In the later history (2 Ch 34; 35), written from the developed ecclesiastical point of view, he is considerably idealized: the festal and ceremonial aspects of his reform are more fully detailed, and the story of his campaign and death is more sympathetically told in the sense of it as a great national calamity.

2. Prophetic:

For the spiritual atmosphere of his time and the prophetic consciousness of a day of wrath impending, the prophet Zephaniah is illuminating, especially for the first half of the reign. Jeremiah, born at about the same time as Josiah, began prophesying in the 13th year of the reign ( Jeremiah 1:2 ). His intimate connection with state affairs, however, belongs to succeeding reigns; but some prophecies of his, notably those revealing his attitude toward the temple misuse ( Jeremiah 7:1-15 ) and toward the Deuteronomic reform ( Jeremiah 11:1-13 ), throw much light on the prevailing conditions. Nahum, writing near the end of the reign, and from an outlying village, is less concerned with home affairs than with the approaching end of Nineveh (fell 606 BC).

3. Memorial:

In Jesus Sirach's Praise of Famous Men there is a passage ( Sirach 49:1-4 ), wholly eulogistic of Josiah, on the score that "in the days of wicked men he made godliness to prevail"; and along with David and Hezekiah he is one of the three who alone did not "commit trespass." Jeremiah's lamentation for. Josiah, mentioned in  2 Chronicles 35:25 , is not preserved to us; instead there is only an allusion ( Jeremiah 22:10 ), naming his successor Shallum (Jehoahaz) as a fitter subject. The lamentations which became "an ordinance in Israel" ( 2 Chronicles 35:25 ) are not to be referred to the Scripture book of that name; which has no hint of Josiah, unless  Lamentations 4:20 be so construed.

II. Traits of His Reign.

1. Situation at the Beginning:

Until his 18th year 2 Kings gives no events of Josiah's reign; 2 Chronicles, however, relates that in his 8th year (at 16 years of age) he "began to seek after the God of David his father," and that in the 12th year he began the purgation of Judah and Jerusalem. The Chronicler may be mistaken in putting the completion of this work before the finding of the law ( 2 Chronicles 34:8 ), but of his disposition and of his beginning without documentary warrant on a work which Hezekiah had attempted before him, there is no reason to doubt. And indeed various influences were working together to make his procedure natural. The staunch loyalty to the Davidic house, as emphasized by the popular movement which seated him (see under Amon ), would in itself be an influence to turn his mind to the God of David his father. Manasseh's all-embracing idolatry had indeed reduced his aristocracy to a people "settled on their lees, that say in their heart, Yahweh will not do good, neither will he do evil" ( Zephaniah 1:12 ); but these represented merely the inertia, not the intelligence, of the people. Over against them is to be reckoned the spiritually-minded "remnant" with which since Isaiah the prophets had been working; a remnant now seasoned by persecution, and already committed to the virtue of meekness ( Zephaniah 2:3 ) and the willing acceptance of affliction as their appointed lot, as against the arrogance of the "proudly exulting ones" ( Zephaniah 3:11-13 ). To such courage and hope the redeeming element of Israel had grown in the midst of a blatant infidelity and worldliness. Nor were they so unconnected with the established order as formerly. The ministers of the temple-service, if not subjected to persecution, had been ranked on a level with devotees of other cults, and so had a common cause which would work to unite the sympathies of priests and prophets in one loyalty to Yahweh. All this is adduced as indicating how the better elements of the nation were ripening for a forward step in enlightened religious progress.

2. Finding of the Law:

The providential moment arrived when in the 18th year of his reign Josiah sent Shaphan the scribe to the temple to arrange with Hilkiah the high priest for the prescribed temple repairs. On giving his account of the funds for that purpose, Hilkiah also delivered to Shaphan a book which he had found in the "house of Yahweh," that is, in the temple proper; which book, when Shaphan read therefrom to the king, caused the latter to rend his robe in dismay and consternation. It was a book in which were commands of Yahweh that had long been unknown or disregarded, and along with these, fearful curses to follow the infraction of them. Such a discovery could not be treated lightly, as one might spurn a prophet or priest; nay, it immediately called the authority of the prophet into requisition. The king sent a deputation to Huldah the prophetess for her verdict on the book; and she, whether aware of its contents or not, assured him that the curses were valid, and that for impieties against which the prophets continually warned, all the woes written in the book were impending. One of the most voluminous discussions of Biblical scholarship has centered round the question what this book was, what its origin, and how it came there in the temple. The Chronicler says roundly it was "the book of the law of Yahweh by the hand of Moses." That it was from the nation's great first prophet and lawgiver was the implicit belief of the king and all his contemporaries. There can be little doubt, judging from the nature of the reforms it elicited and the fact that the curses it contained are still extant, that this "book of the law" was virtually identical with our Book of Deuteronomy. But is this the work of Moses, or the product of a later literary activity? In answer, it is fair to say that it is so true to the soundest interpretation of the spirit and power of Moses that there need be no hesitation in calling it genuinely Mosaic, whatever adaptations and supplementations its laws received after his time. Its highly developed style, however, and its imperfect conformity to the nomadic conditions of Moses' time, make so remote an origin of its present form very doubtful. It comes to us written with the matured skill of Israel's literary prime, in a time too when, as we know (see under Hezekiah ), men of letters were keenly interested in rescuing and putting to present use the literary treasures of their past. As to how it came to be left in the temple at a time so much before its discovery that none questioned its being what it purported to be, each scholar must answer for himself. Some have conjectured that it may have been a product of Solomon's time, and deposited, according to immemorial custom in temple-building, in the foundation of Solomon's temple, where it was found when certain ruins made repairs necessary. To the present writer it seems likelier that it was one of the literary products of Hezekiah's time, compiled from scattered statutes, precedents, and customs long in the keeping - or neglect - of priests and judges, put into the attractive form of oratory, and left for its providential moment. See further, Deuteronomy; Writing .

3. The Great Reform:

Josiah's immediate procedure was to call to the temple a representative assemblage - elders, prophets, priests, populace - and to read to them this "book of the covenant" ( 2 Kings 23:2 ). Then he made a solemn covenant before Yahweh to obey it, and all the people stood to the covenant. So, perhaps for the first time, the people of Judah and Jerusalem had for their guidance not only the case decisions of judges and priests, nor only the emergency warnings and predictions of prophets, but a written and accessible document, covering in a large and liberal way the duties of their civic, social and religious life. One of the most momentous productions of all history, the book became the constitution of the Jewish race; nor were its noble provisions superseded when, centuries later, the tethers of race were broken and a Christian civilization came into its heritage. But the book that was destined to have so large a significance in all coming history had its immediate significance too, and never had this been so pressing. Josiah's consternation arose from the sense of how much of the nation's obvious duty had been left undone and unregarded. First of all, they had through heedless years and ages drifted into a medley of religious ideas and customs which had accumulated until all this lumber of Manasseh's idolatry was upon them. Hezekiah had tried to clear away some of its most crude and superstitious elements (see under Hezekiah ), but he was handicapped by the lack of its clear issue and objective, which now this book supplied. Zephaniah too was showing what Yahweh's will was ( Zephaniah 1:2-6 ); there must be a clean sweep of the debasing and obscuring cults, and the purgation must be done to stay. So Josiah's first reforming step was to break up the high places, the numerous centers of the evil, to destroy the symbols and utensils of the idolatrous shrines and rites, and to defile them past resuscitation. His zeal did not stop with Jerusalem and Judah; he went on to Bethel, which had been the chief sanctuary of the now defunct Northern Kingdom, and in his work here was recognized the fulfillment of an old prophecy dating from the time of its first king ( 2 Kings 23:17; compare  1 Kings 13:1 ,  1 Kings 13:2 ). This necessitated the concentration of public worship in the temple at Jerusalem, and in Dt was found the warrant for this, in the prescript, natural to Moses' point of view, that the worship of Israel must have a single center as it had in the wilderness. From this negative procedure he went on to the positive measure of reviving the festival services inseparable from a religion requiring pilgrimage, instituting a grand Passover on a scale unheard of since the time of the Judges ( 2 Kings 23:21 ,  2 Kings 23:22 ), a feature of his reform on which the Chronicler dwells with peculiar zest ( 2 Chronicles 35:1-15 ). Thus both in the idolatries they must abolish and in the organized worship that they must maintain, the people were committed to a definite and documented issue; this it was which made Josiah's reform so momentous. That the reform seemed after Josiah's untimely death to have been merely outward, is what might reasonably be expected from the inveteracy of the unspirituality that it must encounter. Jeremiah had small faith in its saving power against the stubborn perversity of the people ( Jeremiah 11:1-14 ); and the historian of 2 Kings intimates that more than the piety of a zealous king was needed to turn away the stern decree of Yahweh's anger ( 2 Kings 23:26 ,  2 Kings 23:27 ). In spite of all hardness and apostasy, however, the nation that had once "stood to the covenant" of Deuteronomy could never again be at heart the nation it was before.

4. Disaster at Megiddo:

Ardent and pious as he was, there seems to have been a lack of balance in Josiah's character. His extreme dismay and dread of the curse pronounced on the realm's neglect of the law seems to have been followed, after his great reform had seemed to set things right, by an excess of confidence in Yahweh's restored favor which went beyond sound wisdom, and amounted to presumption. The power of Assyria was weakening, and Pharaoh-necoh of Egypt, ambitious to secure control of Mesopotamia, started on the campaign in which he was eventually to suffer defeat at Carchemish. Josiah, whose reforming zeal had already achieved success in Northern Israel, apparently cherished inordinate dreams of invincibility in Yahweh's name, and went forth with a little army to withstand the Egyptian monarch on his march through the northern provinces. At the first onset he was killed, and his expedition came to nothing. In his untimely death the fervid hopes of the pious received a set-back which was long lamented as one of the cardinal disasters of Israel. It was a sore calamity, but also a stern education. Israel must learn not only the enthusiasm but also the prudence and wisdom of its new-found faith.

(2) A contemporary of Zechariah ( Zechariah 6:10 ), at whose house in Jerusalem the prophet met some returned Jews from Babylon.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Heb. Yoshiyah', יאשַׁיָּה , Healed by Jehovah,  Zechariah 6:10, elsewhere in the paragogic form Yoshiya ' Hu, יאֹשַׁיָּהוּ , and in the text of  Jeremiah 27:1, יאֹושַׁיָּהוּ ; Sept., N.T., and Josephus Ι᾿Ωσίας , "Josias."  Matthew 1:10-11), the name of two men.

I. The sixteenth king of Judah after its separation from the kingdom of Israel, the son (by Jedidah) and, at the early age of eight years, B.C. 640, the successor of Amon ( 2 Kings 22:1;  2 Chronicles 33:1). His history is contained in 2 Kings 22:1-24:30; 2 Chronicles 34:35; and the first twelve chapters of Jeremiah throw much light upon the general character of the Jews in his days. Avoiding the example of his immediate predecessors, he "did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the ways of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left" ( 2 Kings 22:2;  2 Chronicles 34:2).

1. So early as the sixteenth year of his age (B.C. 633) he began to manifest that enmity to idolatry in all its forms which distinguished his character and reign; and he was not quite twenty years old (B.C. 628) when he proclaimed open war against it, although more or less favored by many men of rank and influence in the kingdom ( 2 Chronicles 34:3). He then commenced a thorough purification of the land from all taint of idolatry. by going about and superintending in person the operations of the men who were employed in breaking down idolatrous altars and images, and cutting down the groves which had been consecrated to idol worship (see Bertholdt, De purgatione per Josiam, Erl. 1817). His detestation of idolatry could not have been more strongly expressed than by ransacking the sepulchres of the idolatrous priests of former days, and consuming their bones upon the idol altars before they were overturned. Yet this operation, although unexampled in Jewish history, was foretold 345 years before Josiah was born by the prophet who was commissioned to denounce to Jeroboam the future punishment of his sin. He even named Josiah as the person by whom this act was to be performed, and said that it should be performed in Beth-el, which was then a part of the kingdom of Israel ( 1 Kings 13:2). All this seemed much beyond the range of human probabilities; but it was performed to the letter, for Josiah did not confine his proceedings to his own kingdom, but went over a considerable part of the neighboring kingdom of Israel, which then lay comparatively desolate, with the same object in view; and at Beth-el, in particular, executed all that the prophet had foretold ( 2 Kings 22:1-19;  2 Chronicles 34:3-7;  2 Chronicles 34:32). In these proceedings Josiah seems to have been actuated by an absolute Hatred of idolatry, such as no other king since David had manifested, and which David had scarcely occasion to manifest in the same degree. So important was this reformation of the public cultus under Josiah that it forms an epoch whence Jeremiah dates many of his prophecies ( Jeremiah 25:3;  Jeremiah 25:11;  Jeremiah 25:29).

2. In the eighteenth year of his reign and the twenty-sixth of his age (B.C. 623), when the land had been thoroughly purified from idolatry and all that belonged to it, Josiah proceeded to repair and beautify the Temple of the Lord ( 2 Kings 22:3;  2 Kings 23:23). In the course of this pious labor the high priest Hilkiah discovered in the sanctuary a volume, which proved to contain the books of Moses, and which, from the terms employed, seems to have been considered the original of the law as written by Moses. On this point there has been much anxious discussion and some rash assertion. Some writers of the German school allege that there is no external evidence — that is, evidence besides the law itself — that the book of the law existed till it was thus produced by Hilkiah. This assertion it is the less necessary to answer here, as it will be noticed in the article PENTATEUCH (See Pentateuch). (See also De Wette, Beitr. 1 , 168 sq.; Bertholdt, Progr. De Eo Quod In Purgatione Sacror. Jud. Per Josiam Fucta Omnium, Maxim Contigerit Memorabile, Erl. 1817; also in his Opusc. p. 32 sq.) But it may be observed that it is founded very much on the fact that the king was greatly astonished when some parts of the law were read to him.

It is indeed perfectly manifest that he had previously been entirely ignorant of much that he then heard; and he rent his clothes in consternation when he found that, with the best intentions to serve the Lord, he and all his people had been living in the neglect of duties which the law declared to be of vital importance. It is certainly difficult to account for this ignorance. Some suppose that all the copies of the law had perished, and that the king had never seen one. But this is very unlikely; for. however scarce complete copies may have been, the pious king was likely to have been the possessor of one. The probability seems to be that the passages read were those awful denunciations against disobedience with which the book of Deuteronomy concludes, and which, for some cause or other, the king had never before read, or which had never before produced on his mind the same strong conviction of the imminent dangers under which the nation lay, as now when read to him from a volume invested with a character so venerable, and brought with such interesting circumstances under his notice. We should bear in mind that it is very difficult for us in this age and country to estimate the scantiness of the opportunities which were then open to laymen of acquiring literary knowledge connected with religion. The special commission sent forth by Jehoshaphat ( 2 Chronicles 17:7) is a proof that even under such kings as Asa and his son the Levites were insufficient for the religious instruction of the people. What, then, must have been the amount of information accessible to a generation which had grown up in the reigns of Manasseh and Amon? We do not know that the law was read as a stated part of any ordinary public service in the Temple of Solomon (unless the injunction  Deuteronomy 31:10 was obeyed once in seven years), though God was worshipped there with daily sacrifice, psalmody, and prayer.

The king, in his alarm, sent to Huldah "the prophetess" for her counsel in this emergency, (See Huldah): her answer assured him that, although the dread penalties threatened by the law had been incurred and would be inflicted, he should be gathered in peace to his fathers before the days of punishment and sorrow came.

It was perhaps not without some hope of averting this doom that the king immediately called the people together at Jerusalem, and engaged them in a solemn renewal of the ancient covenant with God. When this had been done, the Passover was celebrated with careful attention to the directions given in the law, and on a scale of unexampled magnificence. (On the public importance of this era, see  Ezekiel 1:1-2.) But all was too late; the hour of mercy had passed; for "the Lord turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah" ( 2 Kings 22:3-20;  2 Kings 23:21-27;  2 Chronicles 34:8-33;  2 Chronicles 35:1-19).

3. That removal from the world which had been promised to Josiah as a blessing was not long delayed, and was brought about in a way which he probably had not expected. Pharaoh-necho, king of Egypt, sought a passage through his territories on an expedition against the Chaldaeans; but Josiah refused to allow the march of the Egyptian army through his dominions, and prepared to resist the attempt by force of arms. His reason for this opposition has usually been assumed to have been a high sense of loyalty to the Assyrian monarch, whose tributary he is supposed to have been. Such is at least the conjecture of Prideaux (Connection, anno 610) and of Milman (History of the Jews, 1, 313). But the Bible ascribes no such chivalrous motive to Josiah; and it does not occur to Josephus, who attributes (Ant. 10, 5, 1) Josiah's resistance merely to Fate urging him to destruction; nor to the author of  1 Esdras 1:28, who describes him as acting willfully against Jeremiah's advice; nor to Ewald, who (Gesch. Isr. 3, 707) conjectures that it may have been the constant aim of Josiah to restore not only the ritual, but also the kingdom of David in its full extent and independence, and that he attacked Necho as an invader of what he considered as his northern dominions. This conjecture, if equally probable with the former, is equally without adequate support in the Bible, and is somewhat derogatory to the character of Josiah. Necho was very unwilling to engage in hostilities with Josiah: the appearance of the Hebrew army at Megiddo (comp. Herod. 2, 159), however, brought on a battle, in which the king of Judah, although disguised for security, was so desperately wounded by a random arrow that his attendants removed him from the war chariot and placed him in another, in which he was taken to Jerusalem, where he died, after a reign of thirty-one years. B.C. 609. (See J.R. Kiesling's Essay on this subject, Lips. 1754.) No king that reigned in Israel was ever more deeply lamented by all his subjects than Josiah; and we are told that the prophet Jeremiah composed on the occasion an elegiac ode, which was long preserved among the people ( 2 Kings 23:29-37,  2 Chronicles 35:20-27). (See Lamentations).

Compare the narrative in  2 Chronicles 35:25 with the allusions in  Jeremiah 22:10;  Jeremiah 22:18, and  Zechariah 12:11, and with Jackson, On The Creed, bk. 8, ch. 23. p. 878. The prediction of Huldah that he should "be gathered into the grave in peace" must be interpreted in accordance with the explanation of that phrase given in  Jeremiah 34:5. Some excellent remarks on it may be found in Jackson, On The Creed, bk. 11, ch. 36, p. 664. Josiah's reformation and his death are commented on by bishop Hall, Contemplations On The O.T., bk. 20. See also Howard, History Of Josiah (London, 1842).

4. It was in the reign of Josiah that a nomadic horde of Scythians overran Asia (Herod. 1, 104-106). A detachment of them went towards Egypt by the way of Philistia: somewhere southwards of Ascalon they were met by messengers from Psammetichus and induced to turn back. They are not mentioned in the historical accounts of Josiah's reign; but Ewald ( Die Psalmen, p. 165) conjectures that the 59th Psalm was composed by king Josiah during a siege of Jerusalem by these Scythians. The town Bethshan is said to derive its Greek name Scythopolis (Reland, Palest. p. 992; Lightfoot, Chor. Marc. 7, § 2) from these invaders. The facility with which Josiah appears to have extended his authority in the land of Israel is adduced as an indication that the Assyrian conquerors of that land were themselves at this time under the restraining fear of some enemy. The prophecy of Zephaniah is considered to have been written amid the terror caused by their approach. The same people are described at a later period by Ezekiel (28). See Ewald, Gesch. Isr. 3, 689. Abarbanel (ap. Eisenmenger, Ent. Jud. 1, 858) records an oral tradition of the Jews to the effect that the ark of the covenant, which Solomon deposited in the Temple ( 1 Kings 6:19), was removed and hidden by Josiah in expectation of the destruction of the Temple, and that it will not be brought again to light until the coming of Messiah.

II. Son of Zephaniah, and a resident of Jerusalem after the captivity, in whose house the prophet was directed to crown the high priest Jeshua as a type of the Messiah ( Zechariah 6:10). B.C. prob. 520. "It has been conjectured that Josiah was either a goldsmith, or treasurer of the Temple, or one of the keepers of the Temple, who received the money offered by the worshippers, but nothing is known of him. Possibly he was a descendant of Zephaniah, the priest mentioned in  Jeremiah 21:1;  Jeremiah 37:3; and if Hen in  Zechariah 6:15 be a proper name, which is doubtful, it probably refers to the same person, elsewhere called Josiah"

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Josi´ah (God-healed), seventeenth king of Judah, and son of Amon, whom he succeeded on the throne in B.C. 698, at the early age of eight years, and reigned thirty-one years.

As Josiah thus early ascended the throne, we may the more admire the good qualities which he manifested. Avoiding the example of his immediate predecessors, he 'did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the ways of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left' . So early as the sixteenth year of his age he began to manifest that enmity to idolatry in all its forms which distinguished his character and reign; and he was not quite twenty years old when he proclaimed open war against it, although more or less favored by many men of rank and influence in the court and kingdom. He then commenced a thorough purification of the land from all taint of idolatry, by going about and superintending in person the operations of the men who were employed in breaking down idolatrous altars and images, and cutting down the groves which had been consecrated to idol-worship. His detestation of idolatry could not have been more strongly expressed than by ransacking the sepulchers of the idolatrous priests of former days, and consuming their bones upon the idol-altars before they were overturned. Yet this operation, although unexampled in Jewish history, was foretold 326 years before Josiah was born, by the prophet who was commissioned to denounce to Jeroboam the future punishment of his sin. He even named Josiah as the person by whom this act was to be performed; and said that it should be performed in Bethel, which was then a part of the kingdom of Israel . All this seemed much beyond the range of human probabilities. But it was performed to the letter; for Josiah did not confine his proceedings to his own kingdom, but went over a considerable part of the neighboring kingdom of Israel, which then lay comparatively desolate, with the same object in view; and at Bethel in particular, executed all that the prophet had foretold (;; ). In these proceedings Josiah seems to have been actuated by an absolute hatred of idolatry, such as no other king since David had manifested, and which David had scarcely occasion to manifest in the same degree.

In the eighteenth year of his reign and the twenty-sixth of his age, when the land had been thoroughly purified from idolatry and all that belonged to it, Josiah proceeded to repair and beautify the temple of the Lord. In the course of this pious labor, the high-priest Hilkiah discovered in the sanctuary a volume, which proved to contain the books of Moses, and which, from the terms employed, seems to have been considered the original of the law as written by Moses. On this point there has been much anxious discussion and some rash assertion. Some writers of the German school allege that there is no external evidence—that is, evidence beside the law itself—that the book of the law existed till it was thus produced by Hilkiah. This assertion it is the less necessary to answer here, as it is duly noticed in the art. Pentateuch. But it may be observed that it is founded very much on the fact that the king was greatly astonished when some parts of the law were read to him. It is indeed perfectly manifest that he had previously been entirely ignorant of much that he then heard; and he rent his clothes in consternation when he found that, with the best intentions to serve the Lord, he and all his people had been living in the neglect of duties which the law declared to be of vital importance. It is certainly difficult to account for this ignorance. Some suppose that all the copies of the law had perished, and that the king had never seen one. But this is very unlikely; for however scarce complete copies may have been, the pious king was likely to have been the possessor of one. The probability seems to be that the passages read were those awful denunciations against disobedience with which the book of Deuteronomy concludes, and which from some cause or other the king had never before read, or which had never before produced on his mind the same strong conviction of the imminent dangers under which the nation lay, as now when read to him from a volume invested with a character so venerable, and brought with such interesting circumstances under his notice.

The king in his alarm sent to Huldah 'the prophetess,' for her counsel in this emergency [HULDAH]: her answer assured him that, although the dread penalties threatened by the law had been incurred and would be inflicted, he should be gathered in peace to his fathers before the days of punishment and sorrow came.

It was perhaps not without some hope of averting this doom that the king immediately called the people together at Jerusalem, and engaged them in a solemn renewal of the ancient covenant with God. When this had been done, the Passover was celebrated with careful attention to the directions given in the law, and on a scale of unexampled magnificence. But all was too late; the hour of mercy had passed; for 'the Lord turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah' .

That removal from the world which had been promised to Josiah as a blessing, was not long delayed, and was brought about in a way which he had probably not expected. His kingdom was tributary to the Chaldean Empire; and when Pharaoh-necho, king of Egypt, sought a passage through his territories, on an expedition against the Chaldeans, Josiah, with a very high sense of the obligations which his vassalage imposed, refused to allow the march of the Egyptian army through his dominions, and prepared to resist the attempt by force of arms. Necho was very unwilling to engage in hostilities with Josiah; the appearance of the Hebrew army at Megiddo, however, brought on a battle, in which the king of Judah was so desperately wounded by arrows that his attendants removed him from the war-chariot, and placed him in another, in which he was taken to Jerusalem, where he died. No king that reigned in Israel was ever more deeply-lamented by all his subjects than Josiah: and we are told that the prophet composed on the occasion an elegiac ode, which was long preserved among the people, but which is not now in existence .

The Nuttall Encyclopedia

A king of Judah from 639 to 609 B.C.; was zealous for the restoration of the Jewish worship according to the ritual of Moses, as recently come to light in the discovery by Hilkiah the high-priest of the "Book of the Law"; he fell in battle before an invading Assyrian host.