Howbeit, there was no reckoning made with them of the money that was delivered into their hand,.... No account was kept between the high priest, and the king's scribe who delivered the money and the overseers of the workmen, who received it from them the latter were not called to any account by the former, nor any audit made of their accounts:...
And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe,.... Not at the first time of his message to him, but afterwards that he attended on him upon the same business; after the high priest had examined the temple to know what repairs it wanted, and where: I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord; some think this was only the...
And Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again,.... Of the delivery of his message to the high priest, and of what had been done upon it: and said, thy servants have gathered the money that was found in the house; meaning Hilkiah and himself, who had examined the chest in the temple, into which the money was put for the...
And Shaphan showed the king,.... Further related to him what follows: saying, Hilkiah the high priest hath delivered me a book; but did not say what book it was: and Shaphan read it before the king; part of it; and it is thought by Kimchi and Ben Gersom that he particularly read the reproofs and threatenings in the book of Deuteronomy; they...
And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law,.... From whence it appears that he had never wrote out a copy of it, as the kings of Israel were ordered to do, when they came to the throne, Deuteronomy 17:18 nor had read it, at least not the whole of it; and yet it seems strange that he should be twenty six years of...
And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest,.... The high priest, as he is called, 2 Kings 22:4 and Ahikam the son of Shaphan; whether the same with Shaphan the scribe, before mentioned, or another of the same name, is not certain: and Achbor the son of Michaiah; who is called Abdon, the son of Micah, 2 Chronicles 34:20 and Shaphan the scribe; who...
Go ye, inquire of the Lord,.... Of some of his prophets, as Jeremiah, who began to prophesy in the thirteenth year of Josiah's reign, and had been a prophet five years, Jeremiah 1:1, for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found; for he observed that this book threatened and foretold not only the...
So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asahiah, went down to Huldah the prophetess,.... Such as were Miriam and Deborah; in imitation of those Satan had very early his women prophetesses, the Sibyls, so called from their being the council and oracle of God, and consulted as such on occasion, as Huldah now was; and the...
And she said unto them,.... The king's messengers: thus saith the Lord God of Israel; being immediately inspired by him, she spake in his name, as prophets did: tell the man that sent you to me; which may seem somewhat rude and unmannerly to say of a king; but when it is considered she spake not of herself, but representing the King of kings and...
Thus saith the Lord, behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants of it,.... Destruction to the place, and captivity to the inhabitants of it: even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read; particularly what is contained in Leviticus 26:14, even all the curses in it, as in 2 Chronicles 34:24.
Because they have forsaken me,.... My worship, as the Targum; his word and ordinances: and have burnt incense unto other gods; to Baal, to the host of heaven, and other Heathen deities: that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands: their idols of wood, stone, gold, and silver, which their hands had made, to worship; than...
But to the king of Judah, which sent you to inquire of the Lord,.... That is, with respect to him, or what may concern him: thus shall ye say unto him; carry back this message to him as from the Lord he desired to inquire of: thus saith the Lord God of Israel, as touching the words which thou hast heard: read out of the law, concerning the...
Because thine heart was tender,.... Soft like wax, and susceptible of impressions; or was "moved", or "trembled", as the Targum; for God has respect to such as are of contrite hearts, and tremble at his word, Isaiah 66:2, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord; external humiliation, such as in Ahab, was regarded by the Lord, much more...
Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers,.... To his godly ancestors, to share with them in eternal life and happiness; otherwise it could be no peculiar favour to die in common, as his fathers did, and be buried in their sepulchres: and thou shall be gathered into thy grave in peace; in a time of public peace and tranquillity; for...
INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 23 This chapter treats of Josiah's reading the book of the law, and of him and the people renewing the covenant with God, 2 Kings 23:1, and of his removing idols and idolatry in every shape, and witchcraft, out of the land, which he did in the sincerity of his heart, 2 Kings 23:4, yet the wrath of God was still determined...
And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. Josiah sent messengers throughout the land, and convened all the principal men in it at Jerusalem.
And the king went up into the house of the Lord,.... To the temple, from his palace: and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him: they met him there: and the priests, and the prophets; the prophets Jeremiah, Zephaniah, and Uriah, who, though they might not be at Jerusalem when the book of the law was found, yet, upon...
And the king stood by a pillar,.... As the manner of kings was, 2 Kings 11:14 and is thought to be the brasen scaffold erected by Solomon, on which he stood at the dedication of the temple, and now Josiah at the reading of the law, 2 Chronicles 6:13, it is said to be his place, 2 Chronicles 34:31, [See comments on 2 Kings 11:14] and made a...
And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order,.... Or the second course of the priests; the course of Jedaiah, 1 Chronicles 24:7 as some think; or rather, the two chief priests next to the high priest, who were of the line both of Eleazar and Ithamar; though the Targum interprets it of the Sagan of the...
And he put down the idolatrous priests,.... The Cemarim, so called, because they wore black clothes, as Kimchi and others, whereas the priests of the Lord were clothed in white linen, [See comments on Zephaniah 1:4]. whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places, in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about...