2 Kings 22

KJV · Chapter 22/25

¹Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Boscath.

²And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.

³And it came to pass in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, that the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, the scribe, to the house of the Lord, saying,

⁴Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may sum the silver which is brought into the house of the Lord, which the keepers of the door have gathered of the people:

⁵And let them deliver it into the hand of the doers of the work, that have the oversight of the house of the Lord: and let them give it to the doers of the work which is in the house of the Lord, to repair the breaches of the house,

⁶Unto carpenters, and builders, and masons, and to buy timber and hewn stone to repair the house.

⁷Howbeit there was no reckoning made with them of the money that was delivered into their hand, because they dealt faithfully.

⁸And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.

⁹And Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again, and said, Thy servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of them that do the work, that have the oversight of the house of the Lord.

¹⁰And Shaphan the scribe shewed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.

¹¹And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes.

¹²And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Michaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah a servant of the king’s, saying,

¹³Go ye, enquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us.

¹⁴So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asahiah, went unto Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college;) and they communed with her.

¹⁵And she said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Tell the man that sent you to me,

¹⁶Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read:

¹⁷Because 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 kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched.

¹⁸But to the king of Judah which sent you to enquire of the Lord, thus shall ye say to him, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, As touching the words which thou hast heard;

¹⁹Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the Lord.

²⁰Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word again.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Josiah, still young, orders the repair of the temple, and during the work the priest Hilkiah finds the lost Book of the Law. Upon hearing its words, Josiah tears his clothes in anguish and consults the prophetess Huldah, who confirms that judgment on Judah is certain, but will be delayed because of the king's sincere humility.

Explanation

The discovery of the Book of the Law (probably Deuteronomy or a substantial portion of the Torah) forgotten within the temple itself, after generations of idolatry under Manasseh and Amon, is a striking picture of how spiritual neglect can cause even Scripture itself to fall into oblivion. Josiah's immediate and humble reaction — tearing his clothes and seeking prophetic guidance instead of ignoring what he heard — contrasts sharply with his grandfather Manasseh and demonstrates the kind of responsive heart that God values, even when the final judgment can no longer be avoided.

Fun facts

Huldah, the prophetess consulted here, is one of the few women in the Bible explicitly identified as a prophetess with authority recognized by kings and priests, showing that women could hold central prophetic roles even in a patriarchal society.
Many biblical scholars identify the 'Book of the Law' found here with the core of the book of Deuteronomy, since its specific blessings and curses (Deuteronomy 28) correspond exactly to the kind of fearful reaction Josiah displays upon hearing its words.

Verse-by-verse explanation

2 Kings 22:1Josiah was only eight years old when he began to reign, and stayed thirty-one years in Jerusalem; his mother’s name was Jedidah, daughter of Adaiah, of Bozkath.
2 Kings 22:2Josiah does what is right, following the way of David without turning aside to the right or to the left — praise with no reservations at all.
2 Kings 22:3In the eighteenth year of his reign, Josiah sends the scribe Shaphan to the temple with specific instructions about the money collected there.
2 Kings 22:4Shaphan is to go to the high priest Hilkiah and get the money the doorkeepers had already collected from the people for the temple.
2 Kings 22:5This money is to be handed over to those in charge of the temple’s repair work, the same system set up earlier in the time of King Joash.
2 Kings 22:6The funds cover carpenters, builders, masons, and the purchase of timber and quarried stone for repairing the building.
2 Kings 22:7As in the time of Joash, no accounting is required from those in charge, because they were working faithfully.
2 Kings 22:8After decades of idolatrous kings using the temple for other cults, a scroll of the Law turns up, seemingly lost, during structural repairs to the building. It is a sign of how far the sacred text itself had fallen out of practical use.
2 Kings 22:9Shaphan returns and reports to the king that the money has already been handed over to those in charge of the temple work.
2 Kings 22:10Shaphan also tells the king that the priest Hilkiah found a book, and he reads it aloud before Josiah.
2 Kings 22:11On hearing the words of the book of the Law, the king tears his own clothes, shocked at how far the people had strayed from what was written.
2 Kings 22:12The king sends Hilkiah, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asahiah to inquire of the Lord about what has been found.
2 Kings 22:13Josiah asks them to inquire of the Lord about the words of this book, because the divine anger is great, since their ancestors never obeyed what was written in it.
2 Kings 22:14Facing so grave a document, the king sends his officials not to the most famous male prophet of the day, but to Huldah, a recognized prophetess living in Jerusalem. The text never questions her authority to confirm the authenticity of the book that was found.
2 Kings 22:15The prophetess Huldah answers: tell the man who sent you to me exactly what the Lord is about to say.
2 Kings 22:16The Lord confirms that He will bring the disaster announced upon Jerusalem and its residents, exactly as written in the book the king read.
2 Kings 22:17The reason is clear: they forsook the Lord and burned incense to other gods, provoking an anger that will not be quenched.
2 Kings 22:18But for the king himself, who sent to inquire of the Lord, the message ends differently than it does for the rest of the people.
2 Kings 22:19Even with the sentence of destruction already sealed because of sins accumulated over earlier generations, Josiah’s sincere response earns him a personal promise. He will die in peace before he has to witness the disaster coming on Jerusalem.
2 Kings 22:20Because of Josiah’s humility, the Lord promises that he will die in peace before having to witness the disaster still coming on the nation.

Chapters

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