Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
2 Chronicles 34:17

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

The final reform (34:1-35:27)

Another reform swept Judah during the reign of Josiah (34:1-33; see notes on 2 Kings 22:1-20). As with the reform of Hezekiah, the climax in the eyes of the Chronicler was a great Passover Feast in Jerusalem.

After returning the ark to its rightful place in the temple, the priests and Levites prepared themselves for their duties. Josiah arranged them in divisions as Hezekiah had done earlier, so that the music, singing, sacrifices and other rituals could be conducted properly. The king, his governors and the leading Levites generously provided the sacrificial animals needed by the people for the occasion. The whole festival was even more spectacular than that of Hezekiah’s time (35:1-19; see notes on 2 Kings 23:21-27). Sadly, Josiah was killed in battle at only thirty-nine years of age (20-27; see notes on 2 Kings 23:28-30).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

THE DISCOVERY OF THE BOOK OF THE LAW OF JEHOVAH GIVEN BY MOSES

“And when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of Jehovah, Hilkiah the priest found the book of the law of Jehovah given by Moses. And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of Jehovah. And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan. And Shaphan carried the book to the king, and moreover brought back word to the king, saying, All that was committed to thy servants they are doing. And they have emptied out the money that was found in the house of Jehovah, and have delivered into the hands of the overseers, and into the hand of the workmen. And Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read therein before the king. And it came to pass when the king heard the words of the law, that he rent his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying, Go ye, inquire of Jehovah for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found; for great is the wrath of Jehovah that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of Jehovah, to do according to all that is written in this book.”

Once for all, this paragraph settles the matter of what that book was which was found in the temple. The title we have given this paragraph is from the sacred text itself; and a million unbelievers shouting that it was anything else cannot nullify what is written here.

The account here is brief. The critical allegation that Shaphan read “the whole book” before the king is ridiculous. The text says “he read therein,” that is, he read certain portions of it, indicating that he had previously studied the book and chose certain passages to read before the king.

Of course, right here is the reason that the inventors of that Priestly Document fairy tale, and those who have swallowed such a falsehood, find the incontrovertible denial of their false theory; and all, repeat, all the objections which radical critics bring against Second Chronicles are for the purpose of defending their ridiculous theory against Biblical truth.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 34

Josiah was only eight years old when he began to reign, he reigned in Jerusalem for thirty-one years ( 2 Chronicles 34:1 ).

Josiah instituted reformations.

In the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, [which means he was sixteen years old] he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images ( 2 Chronicles 34:3 ).

So eight years old when he started to reign. By the time he was sixteen, he started seeking the Lord. By the time he was twenty, he began to purge the land of the false images. When he was twenty-one years old, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet. And so now you're into the period of Jeremiah. For in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah, the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah the prophet, calling Jeremiah. So Jeremiah was about seventeen years old when the word of the Lord came to him. So it means that he was about four years difference between Jeremiah and Josiah this king. And Josiah did institute spiritual reforms among the people.

And yet, Jeremiah the prophet of God at this time could see that the spiritual reforms were only surface reforms. It was only because the king was serving God that the people followed, but not with their whole heart. And Jeremiah cried out against the superficiality of their conversion and of their worship of God, declaring that they had only turned in a surface way but not with all of their hearts to the Lord. So Jeremiah, if you can remember now, this period of history when you get to Jeremiah, you'll really understand the prophecy of Jeremiah so much better, because Jeremiah began his prophecy right at this point. The purging of Jerusalem, the re-establishing of the temple worship and so forth by Josiah, that's when Jeremiah began his period of prophecy and he prophesied through the rest of the history of the nation prior to the Babylonian captivity. So from II Chronicles here on is the period of Jeremiah's ministry.

So he broke down the altars of Baalim; the images, he cut down the groves. He burnt the bones of the priests and their altars. And so he did up in the cities of the north, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali. And when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem ( 2 Chronicles 34:4-7 ).

They began the repairing of the temple in the eighteenth year of his reign after he had purged the land. Jeremiah now had been prophesying for five years. They sent out a message to prepare the temple. They hired the workmen to come in and they began to restore the building that had fallen into great disrepair under his father Amon and his grandfather Manasseh.

Now as they were cleaning out the temple, they found a book of the law of the Lord. One of the scrolls upon which the law of God was written and the priest brought it out to Josiah and he began to read to him out of this scroll. And as he read to him, and of course, no doubt the portion of Deuteronomy really got to him where God pronounced the curses that would come upon the people should they turn away from God. And Josiah cried out and he said, "Oh, this is terrible." He realized that because of the iniquity and the sin of these people who had been called by God to be a special people and because of their failure that these are the curses God said that I will bring upon the land. And so when they read this scroll to Josiah, it came to pass when he heard the words that he tore his clothes and he said,

Inquire of the LORD for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD, to do all that is written in this book. And so they came to Huldah the prophetess, (who was there in the college of prophets in Jerusalem;) ( 2 Chronicles 34:21-22 )

And she said, yes, the nation was going to fall but that it would not fall during the reign of Josiah because of his righteousness and turning unto the Lord. And so he was promised that he would be brought to the grave in peace. So then he had the law of the Lord read to the people. And he read in their ears all of the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord.

And the king stood in his place, and he made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all of his heart, and with all of his soul, and to perform the words of the covenant which are written in the book. And Josiah took away all of the abominations out of the countries that pertained to the children of Israel, and he made all that were present in Israel to serve, even to serve the LORD their God. And all his days they departed not from following the LORD, the God of their fathers ( 2 Chronicles 34:31 , 2 Chronicles 34:33 ).

And then he instituted a tremendous Passover that even superseded that of his great grandfather's Hezekiah. In fact, there was no Passover in all of the land as great as this one since the time of Samuel. Now in Hezekiah, he had the biggest ones from Solomon, but Josiah even superseded those of Solomon, David's period, nothing like this since the time of Samuel.

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Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

1. Josiah’s reforms ch. 34

The godly in Judah may have regarded Josiah as the most likely candidate to fulfill the promises God had given to David. His early life and reign were spiritually exemplary (2 Chronicles 34:2-3). He sought to purge idolatry from the whole territory of Israel as well as Judah (2 Chronicles 34:4-7). Many of the Simeonites (2 Chronicles 34:6) had allied themselves with Israel religiously (cf. 2 Chronicles 15:9). [Note: Keil, p. 431.]

In Jerusalem, Josiah embarked on a renovation of the temple because Manasseh and Amon had abused it (2 Chronicles 34:8-13). The "book of the law" that Hilkiah found (2 Chronicles 34:14) may have been the Book of Deuteronomy, [Note: See Dillard, 2 Chronicles, p. 280, for seven supporting reasons.] another portion of the Pentateuch, or the whole Pentateuch. [Note: Payne, "Second Chronicles," p. 418.] Most scholars believe the book found was Deuteronomy.

It may be hard for us to understand how the people could have lost the Law of Moses and how they could have forgotten it in just two generations. However, written copies were scarce. Moreover, parents and the Levites conducted most instruction orally (2 Chronicles 17:9). Only one generation separated the people from ignorance of God’s will (cf. Deuteronomy 6:6-7; Deuteronomy 17:18). This has been true throughout history. Josiah’s response to the reading of Torah (the Law) shows his heart to please God (2 Chronicles 34:19; 2 Chronicles 34:27).

Huldah announced that God had decreed captivity for Judah (2 Chronicles 34:25). Nevertheless, Josiah would experience mercy because of his tender heart and humility (2 Chronicles 34:27). He would die before Judah went into captivity (2 Chronicles 34:28). Another view of the prediction that he would die in peace is that it refers to what would have happened if Josiah had not violated the will of God by engaging Neco in battle. [Note: See McConville, p. 264.]

The announcement of God’s coming judgment led the king and the nation to commit anew to follow God’s Word (2 Chronicles 34:29-33). Perhaps He would postpone captivity.

The temple had been the protector of the Law (2 Chronicles 34:14), as it had earlier protected David’s heir, Joash (2 Chronicles 22:10-12). It had preserved the two foundational elements in Israel’s life: God’s Word and God’s vice-regent. As mentioned before, the temple represented God. The preservation of these two essential elements was an act of Israel’s faithful God. Concern for the things of God resulted in the discovery of God’s will (cf. 2 Chronicles 7:14).

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

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Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      14 And when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the LORD given by Moses.   15 And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan.   16 And Shaphan carried the book to the king, and brought the king word back again, saying, All that was committed to thy servants, they do it.   17 And they have gathered together the money that was found in the house of the LORD, and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers, and to the hand of the workmen.   18 Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.   19 And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the law, that he rent his clothes.   20 And the king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king's, saying,   21 Go, enquire of the LORD for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD, to do after all that is written in this book.   22 And Hilkiah, and they that the king had appointed, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college:) and they spake to her to that effect.   23 And she answered them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Tell ye the man that sent you to me,   24 Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah:   25 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 poured out upon this place, and shall not be quenched.   26 And as for the king of Judah, who sent you to enquire of the LORD, so shall ye say unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel concerning the words which thou hast heard;   27 Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the LORD.   28 Behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, neither shall thine eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants of the same. So they brought the king word again.

      This whole paragraph we had, just as it is here related, 2 Kings 22:8-20, and have nothing to add here to what was there observed. But, 1. We may hence take occasion to bless God that we have plenty of Bibles, and that they are, or may be, in all hands,--that the book of the law and gospel is not lost, is not scarce,--that, in this sense, the word of the Lord is not precious. Bibles are jewels, but, thanks be to God, they are not rarities. The fountain of the waters of life is not a spring shut up or a fountain sealed, but the streams of it, in all places, make glad the city of our God. Usus communis aquarum--These waters flow for general use. What a great deal shall we have to answer for if the great things of God's law, being thus made common, should be accounted by us as strange things! 2. We may hence learn, whenever we read or hear the word of God, to affect our hearts with it, and to get them possessed with a holy fear of that wrath of God which is there revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, as Josiah's tender heart was. When he heard the words of the law he rent his clothes (2 Chronicles 34:19; 2 Chronicles 34:19), and God was well pleased with his doing so, 2 Chronicles 34:27; 2 Chronicles 34:27. Were the things contained in the scripture new to us, as they were here to Josiah, surely they would make deeper impressions upon us than commonly they do; but they are not the less weighty, and therefore should not be the less considered by us, for their being well known. Rend the heart therefore, not the garments. 3. We are here directed when we are under convictions of sin, and apprehensions of divine wrath, to enquire of the Lord; so Josiah did, 2 Chronicles 34:21; 2 Chronicles 34:21. It concerns us to ask (as they did, Acts 2:37), Men and brethren, what shall we do? and more particularly (as the jailor), What must I do to be saved?Acts 16:30. If you will thus enquire, enquire (Isaiah 21:12); and, blessed be God, we have the lively oracles to which to apply with these enquiries. 4. We are here warned of the ruin that sin brings upon nations and kingdoms. Those that forsake God bring evil upon themselves (2 Chronicles 34:24; 2 Chronicles 34:25), and kindle a fire which shall not be quenched. Such will the fire of God's wrath be when the decree has gone forth against those that obstinately and impenitently persist in their wicked ways. 5. We are here encouraged to humble ourselves before God and seek unto him, as Josiah did. If we cannot prevail thereby to turn away God's wrath from our land, yet we shall deliver our own souls, 2 Chronicles 34:27; 2 Chronicles 34:28. And good people are here taught to be so far from fearing death as to welcome it rather when it takes them away from the evil to come. See how the property of it is altered by making it the matter of a promise: Thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, housed in that ark, as Noah, when a deluge is coming.