2 Kings 22:11

_AND 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._ No JFB commentary on these verses....

11-20 The book of the law is read before the king. Those best honour their Bibles, who study them; daily feed on that bread, and walk by that light. Convictions of sin and wrath should put us upon this inquiry, What shall we do to be saved? Also, what we may expect, and must provide for. Those who are truly apprehensive of the weight of God's wrath, cannot but be very anxious how they may be saved. Huldah let Josiah know what judgments God had in store for Judah and Jerusalem. The generality of the people were hardened, and their hearts unhumbled, but Josiah's heart was tender. This is tenderness of heart, and thus he humbled himself before the Lord. Those who most fear God's wrath, are least likely to feel it. Though Josiah was mortally wounded in battle, yet he died in peace with God, and went to glory. Whatever such persons suffer or witness, they are gathered to the grave in peace, a...

HE RENT HIS CLOTHES - Partly grief and horror, like Reuben Genesis 37:29 and Job Job 1:20, partly in repentance, like Ahab 1 Kings 21:27....

EXPOSITION 2 KINGS 22:1 ACCESSION OF JOSIAH. REPAIR OF THE TEMPLE. RECOVERY OF THE BOOK OF THE LAW. 2 KINGS 22:1 GENERAL CHARACTER OF JOSIAH'S REIGN. _His repair of the temple_._ _The writer begins his account of Josiah's reign with the usual brief summary, giving his age at his accession, the length of his reign, his mother's name and birthplace ...

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 age, as he now was, and had proceeded far in the reformation of worship, and yet be without the book of the law, and the high priest also; it looks as if it was, as some have thought, that they had till now only some abstracts of the law, and not the whole: and perhaps the reformation hitherto carried on chiefly lay in abolishing idolatry, and not so much in restoring the ordinances of worship to their purity; for it was after this that the ordinance of the passover was ordered to be kept; and when the king observed, on hearing the law read

V. THE REIGN OF JOSIAH 1. The Revival CHAPTER 22 _ 1. Josiah begins to reign (2 Kings 22:1; 2 Chronicles 34:1)_ 2. The temple repaired (2 Kings 22:3; 2 Chronicles 34:8) 3. The law discovered (2 Kings 22:8; 2 Chronicles 34:14) 4. The reading of the law and its results (2 Kings 22:10) 5. The

2 KINGS 22:1 TO 2 KINGS 23:30_ A_. THE REIGN AND REFORMS OF JOSIAH. The fifty-seven years of the reigns of Manasseh and Amon were, according to Kings (not Chronicles), a period of apostasy, which probably continued for the first ten years of Josiah. The prophetic party had consequently remained out of power since the persecution of Manasseh (2 Kings 21:16). They regained their influence by the discovery of the Book of the Law (2 Kings 22:8). The prophetess Huldah, on being consulted, foretold that all the calamities predicted in the book would come true, but that Josiah should go to his grave in peace and not witness the ruin of hi

HE RENT HIS CLOTHES. This act indicated grief, horror and repentance. The king now heard for the first time the solemn denunciations of the sins of Israel found in Deut. chap. 28. He was alarmed at the terrible penalties which were denounced against the sins of which the people had been guilty. For other cases of rending garments see Genesis 37:29, the case of Reuben; Job 1:20 and 1 Kings 21:27....

HE RENT HIS CLOTHES. Not necessarily on account of his surprise, but on account of the solemnity of the words....

C. A LOST BOOK RECOVERED 22:8-13 TRANSLATION (8) And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, The book of the law I have found in the house of the LORD! And Hilkiah gave the book unto Shaphan, and he read it. (9) And Shaphan the scribe came unto the king, and brought the king word again, and said, Your servants have gathered the silver that was found in the house, and they have given it into the hand of the workers, the ones who have been ap pointed in the house of the LORD. (10) And Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest has given to me a book, and Shaphan read it before the king. (11) And when the king heard the words of the book of the Law, he rent his garments. (12) And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Achbor the son of Michaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah the servant of the king, saying, (13) Go inquire of...