9 And when they came H935 to Hilkiah H2518 the high H1419 priest, H3548 they delivered H5414 the money H3701 that was brought H935 into the house H1004 of God, H430 which the Levites H3881 that kept H8104 the doors H5592 had gathered H622 of the hand H3027 of Manasseh H4519 and Ephraim, H669 and of all the remnant H7611 of Israel, H3478 and of all Judah H3063 and Benjamin; H1144 and they returned H7725 H3427 to Jerusalem. H3389
10 And they put H5414 it in the hand H3027 of the workmen H6213 H4399 that had the oversight H6485 of the house H1004 of the LORD, H3068 and they gave H5414 it to the workmen H6213 H4399 that wrought H6213 in the house H1004 of the LORD, H3068 to repair H918 and amend H2388 the house: H1004
11 Even to the artificers H2796 and builders H1129 gave H5414 they it, to buy H7069 hewn H4274 stone, H68 and timber H6086 for couplings, H4226 and to floor H7136 the houses H1004 which the kings H4428 of Judah H3063 had destroyed. H7843
12 And the men H582 did H6213 the work H4399 faithfully: H530 and the overseers H5329 of them were Jahath H3189 and Obadiah, H5662 the Levites, H3881 of the sons H1121 of Merari; H4847 and Zechariah H2148 and Meshullam, H4918 of the sons of the Kohathites, H6956 to set it forward; H6485 and other of the Levites, H3881 all that could skill H995 of instruments H3627 of musick. H7892
13 Also they were over the bearers of burdens, H5449 and were overseers H5329 of all that wrought H6213 the work H4399 in any manner of service: H5656 and of the Levites H3881 there were scribes, H5608 and officers, H7860 and porters. H7778
14 And when they brought out H3318 the money H3701 that was brought into H935 the house H1004 of the LORD, H3068 Hilkiah H2518 the priest H3548 found H4672 a book H5612 of the law H8451 of the LORD H3068 given by H3027 Moses. H4872
15 And Hilkiah H2518 answered H6030 and said H559 to Shaphan H8227 the scribe, H5608 I have found H4672 the book H5612 of the law H8451 in the house H1004 of the LORD. H3068 And Hilkiah H2518 delivered H5414 the book H5612 to Shaphan. H8227
16 And Shaphan H8227 carried H935 the book H5612 to the king, H4428 and brought H7725 the king H4428 word H1697 back H7725 again, saying, H559 All that was committed H5414 to H3027 thy servants, H5650 they do H6213 it.
17 And they have gathered together H5413 the money H3701 that was found H4672 in the house H1004 of the LORD, H3068 and have delivered H5414 it into the hand H3027 of the overseers, H6485 and to the hand H3027 of the workmen. H6213 H4399
18 Then Shaphan H8227 the scribe H5608 told H5046 the king, H4428 saying, H559 Hilkiah H2518 the priest H3548 hath given H5414 me a book. H5612 And Shaphan H8227 read H7121 it before H6440 the king. H4428
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on 2 Chronicles 34
Commentary on 2 Chronicles 34 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 34
2Ch 34:1, 2. Josiah's Good Reign.
1. Josiah was eight years old—(See on 2Ki 22:1). The testimony borne to the undeviating steadfastness of his adherence to the cause of true religion places his character and reign in honorable contrast with those of many of his royal predecessors.
2Ch 34:3-7. He Destroys Idolatry.
3. in the eighth year of his reign—This was the sixteenth year of his age, and, as the kings of Judah were considered minors till they had completed their thirteenth year, it was three years after he had attained majority. He had very early manifested the piety and excellent dispositions of his character. In the twelfth year of his reign, but the twentieth of his age, he began to take a lively interest in the purgation of his kingdom from all the monuments of idolatry which, in his father's short reign, had been erected. At a later period, his increasing zeal for securing the purity of divine worship led him to superintend the work of demolition in various parts of his dominion. The course of the narrative in this passage is somewhat different from that followed in the Book of Kings. For the historian, having made allusion to the early manifestation of Josiah's zeal, goes on with a full detail of all the measures this good king adopted for the extirpation of idolatry; whereas the author of the Book of Kings sets out with the cleansing of the temple, immediately previous to the celebration of the passover, and embraces that occasion to give a general description of Josiah's policy for freeing the land from idolatrous pollution. The exact chronological order is not followed either in Kings or Chronicles. But it is clearly recorded in both that the abolition of idolatry began in the twelfth and was completed in the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign. Notwithstanding Josiah's undoubted sincerity and zeal and the people's apparent compliance with the king's orders, he could not extinguish a strongly rooted attachment to idolatries introduced in the early part of Manasseh's reign. This latent predilection appears unmistakably developed in the subsequent reigns, and the divine decree for the removal of Judah, as well as Israel, into captivity was irrevocably passed.
4. the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them—He treated the graves themselves as guilty of the crimes of those who were lying in them [Bertheau].
5. he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars—A greater brand of infamy could not have been put on idolatrous priests than the disinterment of their bones, and a greater defilement could not have been done to the altars of idolatry than the burning upon them the bones of those who had there officiated in their lifetime.
6. with their mattocks—or, "in their deserts"—so that the verse will stand thus: "And so did [namely, break the altars and burn the bones of priests] he in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali, in their deserted suburbs." The reader is apt to be surprised on finding that Josiah, whose hereditary possessions were confined to the kingdom of Judah, exercised as much authority among the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, Simeon, and others as far as Naphtali, as he did within his own dominion. Therefore, it is necessary to observe that, after the destruction of Samaria by Shalmaneser, the remnant that continued on the mountains of Israel maintained a close intercourse with Judah, and looked to the sovereigns of that kingdom as their natural protectors. Those kings acquired great influence over them, which Josiah exercised in removing every vestige of idolatry from the land. He could not have done this without the acquiescence of the people in the propriety of this proceeding, conscious that this was conformable to their ancient laws and institutions. The Assyrian kings, who were now masters of the country, might have been displeased at the liberties Josiah took beyond his own territories. But either they were not informed of his doings, or they did not trouble themselves about his religious proceedings, relating, as they would think, to the god of the land, especially as he did not attempt to seize upon any place or to disturb the allegiance of the people [Calmet].
2Ch 34:8-18. He Repairs the Temple.
8. in the eighteenth year of his reign … he sent Shaphan—(See on 2Ki 22:3-9).
2Ch 34:19-33. And, Causing the Law to Be Read, Renews the Covenant between God and the People.
19. when the king had heard the words of the law, &c.—(See on 2Ki 22:11-20; 23:1-3).