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Context No. 122 of 4322 · 2 Kings

Context · Reflection

2 Kings 22:1-7: in context

1Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. 2He did that which was right in the LORD’s eyes, and walked in all the ways of David his father, and didn’t turn away to the right hand or to the left. 3In the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent Shaphan, the son of Azaliah the son of Meshullam, the scribe, to the LORD’s house, saying, 4“Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may count the money which is brought into the LORD’s house, which the keepers of the threshold have gathered of the people. 5Let them deliver it into the hand of the workers who have the oversight of the LORD’s house; and let them give it to the workers who are in the LORD’s house, to repair the damage to the house, 6to the carpenters, and to the builders, and to the masons, and for buying timber and cut stone to repair the house. 7However, no accounting shall be asked of them for the money delivered into their hand, for they deal faithfully.”

Josiah came to the throne of Judah at eight years old, after his father was murdered by his own officials. This passage covers the first eighteen years of his reign in a few verses, and then the errand that changes everything.

The verdict on him is the strongest in the book: he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, walked in the ways of David, and did not turn aside to the right or the left. Then, in his eighteenth year, he sends his secretary Shaphan to the high priest with an administrative instruction. Count the money brought into the temple and hand it to the workmen for repairs, to the carpenters and builders and masons, for timber and cut stone. He adds one detail: no accounting is required from them, because they deal honestly.

It is a building maintenance memo. In the verses right after this, the high priest tells Shaphan he has found the book of the law in the house of the LORD, and the reading of it sets off the deepest religious reform in Judah's history. The scroll turned up because somebody was clearing out a temple to fix the roof. What might I find if I actually cleaned out the thing I have been meaning to repair?

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