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2 Chronicles 34:1-33 Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

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1 A son of eight years `is' Josiah in his reigning, and thirty and one years he hath reigned in Jerusalem,

2 and he doth that which is right in the eyes of Jehovah, and walketh in the ways of David his father, and hath not turned aside -- right or left.

3 And in the eighth year of his reign (and he yet a youth), he hath begun to seek to the God of David his father, and in the twelfth year he hath begun to cleanse Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the shrines, and the graven images, and the molten images.

4 And they break down before him the altars of the Baalim, and the images that `are' on high above them he hath cut down, and the shrines, and the graven images, and the molten images, he hath broken and beaten small, and streweth on the surface of the graves of those sacrificing to them,

5 and the bones of the priests he hath burnt on their altars, and cleanseth Judah and Jerusalem,

6 and in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali, with their tools, round about.

7 And he breaketh down the altars and the shrines, and the graven images he hath beaten down very small, and all the images he hath cut down in all the land of Israel, and turneth back to Jerusalem.

8 And in the eighteenth year of his reign, to purify the land and the house he hath sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah head of the city, and Joah son of Johaz the remembrancer, to strengthen the house of Jehovah his God.

9 And they come in unto Hilkiah the high priest, and they give the money that is brought in to the house of God, that the Levites, keeping the threshold, have gathered from the hand of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and from all the remnant of Israel, and from all Judah, and Benjamin, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem,

10 and they give `it' into the hand of the workmen, those appointed over the house of Jehovah, and they give it `to' the workmen who are working in the house of Jehovah, to repair and to strengthen the house;

11 and they give `it' to artificers, and to builders, to buy hewn stones, and wood for couplings and for beams to the houses that the kings of Judah had destroyed.

12 And the men are working faithfully in the business, and over them are appointed Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites, of the sons of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathite, to overlook; and of the Levites, every one understanding about instruments of song,

13 and over the burden-bearers, and overseers of every one doing work for service and service; and of the Levites `are' scribes, and officers, and gatekeepers.

14 And in their bringing out the money that is brought in to the house of Jehovah, hath Hilkiah the priest found the book of the law of Jehovah by the hand of Moses,

15 and Hilkiah answereth and saith unto Shaphan the scribe, `A book of the law I have found in the house of Jehovah;' and Hilkiah giveth the book unto Shaphan,

16 and Shaphan bringeth in the book unto the king, and bringeth the king back word again, saying, `All that hath been given into the hand of thy servants they are doing,

17 and they pour out the money that is found in the house of Jehovah, and give it into the hand of those appointed, and into the hands of those doing the work.'

18 And Shaphan the scribe declareth to the king, saying, `A book hath Hilkiah the priest given to me;' and Shaphan readeth in it before the king.

19 And it cometh to pass, at the king's hearing the words of the law, that he rendeth his garments,

20 and the king commandeth Hilkiah, and Ahikam son of Shaphan, and Abdon son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah, servant of the king, saying,

21 `Go, seek Jehovah for me, and for him who is left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found, for great `is' the fury of Jehovah that is poured on us, because that our fathers kept not the word of Jehovah, to do according to all that is written on this book.'

22 And Hilkiah goeth, and they of the king, unto Huldah the prophetess, wife of Shallum son of Tikvath, son of Hasrah, keeper of the garments, and she is dwelling in Jerusalem in the Second, and they speak unto her thus.

23 And she saith to them, `Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, Say to the man who hath sent you unto me,

24 Thus said Jehovah, Lo, I am bringing in evil on this place, and on its inhabitants, all the execrations that are written on the book that they read before the king of Judah;

25 because that they have forsaken Me, and make perfume to other gods, so as to provoke Me with all the works of their hands, and poured out is My fury upon this place, and it is not quenched.

26 `And unto the king of Judah, who is sending you to inquire of Jehovah, thus do ye say unto him: Thus said Jehovah God of Israel, whose words thou hast heard:

27 Because thy heart `is' tender, and thou art humbled before God in thy hearing His words concerning this place, and concerning its inhabitants, and art humbled before Me, and dost rend thy garments, and weep before Me: even I also have heard -- the affirmation of Jehovah.

28 Lo, I am gathering thee unto thy fathers, and thou hast been gathered unto thy graves in peace, and thine eyes do not look on all the evil that I am bringing upon this place, and upon its inhabitants;' and they bring the king back word.

29 And the king sendeth and gathereth all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem,

30 and the king goeth up to the house of Jehovah, and every man of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, even all the people, from great even unto small, and he readeth in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant that is found in the house of Jehovah.

31 And the king standeth on his station, and maketh the covenant before Jehovah, to walk after Jehovah, and to keep His commands, and His testimonies, and His statutes, with all his heart, and with all his soul, to do the words of the covenant that are written on this book.

32 And he presenteth every one who is found in Jerusalem and Benjamin, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem do according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.

33 And Josiah turneth aside all the abominations out of all the lands that the sons of Israel have, and causeth every one who is found in Israel to serve, to serve Jehovah their God; all his days they turned not aside from after Jehovah, God of their fathers.

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Commentary on 2 Chronicles 34 Matthew Henry Commentary

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Chapter 34

Before we see Judah and Jerusalem ruined we shall yet see some glorious years, while good Josiah sits at the helm. By his pious endeavours for reformation God tried them yet once more; if they had known in this their day, the day of their visitation, the things that belonged to their peace and improved them, their ruin might have been prevented. But after this reign they were hidden from their eyes, and the next reigns brought an utter desolation upon them. In this chapter we have,

  • I. A general account of Josiah's character (v. 1, 2).
  • II. His zeal to root out idolatry (v. 3-7).
  • III. His care to repair the temple (v. 8-13).
  • IV. The finding of the book of the law and the good use made of it (v. 14-28).
  • V. The public reading of the law to the people and their renewing their covenant with God thereupon (v. 29-33). Much of this we had 2 Ki. 22.

2Ch 34:1-7

Concerning Josiah we are here told,

  • 1. That he came to the crown when he was very young, only eight years old (yet his infancy did not debar him from his right), and he reigned thirty-one years (v. 1), a considerable time. I fear, however, that in the beginning of his reign things went much as they had done in his father's time, because, being a child, he must have left the management of them to others; so that it was not till his twelfth year, which goes far in the number of his years, that the reformation began, v. 3. He could not, as Hezekiah did, fall about it immediately.
  • 2. That he reigned very well (v. 2), approved himself to God, trod in the steps of David, and did not decline either to the right hand of to the left: for there are errors on both hands.
  • 3. That while he was young, about sixteen years old, he began to seek after God, v. 3. We have reason to think he had not so good an education as Manasseh had (it is well if those about him did not endeavour to corrupt and debauch him); yet he thus sought God when he was young. It is the duty and interest of young people, and will particularly be the honour of young gentlemen, as soon as they come to years of understanding, to begin to seek God; for those that seek him early shall find him.
  • 4. That in the twelfth year of his reign, when it is probable he took the administration of the government entirely into his own hands, he began to purge his kingdom from the remains of idolatry; he destroyed the high places, groves, images, altars, all the utensils of idolatry, v. 3, 4. He not only cast them out as Manasseh did, but broke them to pieces, and made dust of them. This destruction of idolatry is here said to be in his twelfth year, but it was said (2 Ki. 23:23) to be in his eighteenth year. Something was probably done towards it in his twelfth year; then he began to purge out idolatry, but that good work met with opposition, so that it was not thoroughly done till they had found the book of the law six years afterwards. But here the whole work is laid together briefly which was much more largely and particularly related in the Kings. His zeal carried him out to do this, not only in Judah and Jerusalem, but in the cities of Israel too, as far as he had any influence upon them.

2Ch 34:8-13

Here,

  • 1. Orders are given by the king for the repair of the temple, v. 8. When he had purged the house of the corruptions of it he began to fit it up for the services that were to be performed in it. Thus we must do by the spiritual temple of the heart, get it cleansed from the pollutions of sin, and then renewed, so as to be transformed into the image of God. Josiah, in this order, calls God the Lord his God. Those that truly love God will love the habitation of his house.
  • 2. Care is taken about it, effectual care. The Levites went about the country and gathered money towards it, which was returned to the three trustees mentioned, v. 8. They brought it to Hilkiah the high priest (v. 9), and he and they put it into the hands of workmen, both overseers and labourers, who undertook to do it by the great, as we say, or in the gross, v. 10, 11. It is observed that the workmen were industrious and honest: They did the work faithfully (v. 12); and workmen are not completely faithful if they are not both careful and diligent, for a confidence is reposed in them that they will be so. It is also intimated that the overseers were ingenious; for it is said that all those were employed to inspect this work who were skilful in instruments of music; not that their skill in music could be of any use in architecture, but it was an evidence that they were men of sense and ingenuity, and particularly that their genius lay towards the mathematics, which qualified them very much for this trust. Witty men are then wise men when they employ their wit in doing good, in helping their friends, and, as they have opportunity, in serving the public. Observe, in this work, how God dispenses his gifts variously; here were some that were bearers of burdens, cut out for bodily labour and fit to work. Here were others (made meliori luto-of finer materials) that had skill in music, and they were overseers of those that laboured, and scribes and officers. The former were the hands: these were the heads. They had need of one another, and the work needed both. Let not the overseers of the work despise the bearers of burdens, nor let those that work in the service grudge at those whose office it is to direct; but let each esteem and serve the other in love, and let God have the glory and the church the benefit of the different gifts and dispositions of both.

2Ch 34:14-28

This whole paragraph we had, just as it is here related, 2 Ki. 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 (v. 19), and God was well pleased with his doing so, v. 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, v. 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 (Isa. 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 (v. 24, 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, v. 27, 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.

2Ch 34:29-33

We have here an account of the further advances which Josiah made towards the reformation of his kingdom upon the hearing of the law read and the receipt of the message God sent him by the prophetess. Happy the people that had such a king; for here we find that,

  • 1. They were well taught. He did not go about to force them to do their duty, till he had first instructed them in it. He called all the people together, great and small, young and old, rich and poor, high and low. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear the words of the book of the covenant; for they are all concerned in those words. To put an honour upon the service, and to engage attention the more, though there were priests and Levites present, the king himself read the book to the people (v. 30), and he read it, no doubt, in such a manner as to show that he was himself affected with it, which would be a means of affecting the hearers.
  • 2. They were well fixed. The articles of agreement between God and Israel being read, that they might intelligently covenant with God, both king and people with great solemnity did as it were subscribe the articles. The king in his place covenanted to keep God's commandments with all his heart and soul, according to what was written in the book (v. 31), and urged the people to declare their consent likewise to this covenant, and solemnly to promise that they would faithfully perform, fulfil, and keep, all and every thing that was on their part to be done, according to this covenant: this they did; they could not for shame do otherwise. He caused all that were present to stand to it (v. 32), and made them all to serve, even to serve the Lord their God (v. 33), to do it and to make a business of it. he did all he could to bring them to it-to serve, even to serve; the repetition denotes that this was the only thing his heart was set on; he aimed at nothing else in what he did but to engage them to God and their duty.
  • 3. They were well tended, were honest with good looking to. All his days they departed not from following the Lord; he kept them, with much ado, from running into idolatry again. All his days were days of restraint upon them; but this intimated that there was in them a bent to backslide, a strong inclination to idolatry. Many of them wanted nothing but to have him out of the way, and then they would have their high places and their images up again. And therefore we find that in the days of Josiah (Jer. 3:6) God charged it upon treacherous Judah that she had not returned to him with all her heart, but feignedly (v. 10), nay, had played the harlot (v. 8) and thereby had even justified backsliding Israel, v. 11. In the twenty-third year of this reign, four or five years after this, they had gone on to provoke God to anger with the works of their hands (Jer. 25:3-7); and, which is very observable, it is from the beginning of Josiah's reformation, his twelfth or thirteenth year, that the iniquity of the house of Judah, which brought ruin upon them, and which the prophet was to bear lying on his right side, was dated (Eze. 4:6), for thence to the destruction of Jerusalem was just forty years. Josiah was sincere in what he did, but the generality of the people were averse to it and hankered after their idols still; so that the reformation, though well designed and well prosecuted by the prince, had little or no effect upon the people. It was with reluctancy that they parted with their idols; still they were in heart joined to them, and wished for them again. This God saw, and therefore from that time, when one would have thought the foundations had been laid for a perpetual security and peace, from that very time did the decree go forth for their destruction. Nothing hastens the ruin of a people nor ripens them for it more than the baffling of hopeful attempts for reformation and a hypocritical return to God. Be not deceived, God is not mocked.