1. Josiah was eight years
old--(See on
2Ki 22:1).
The testimony borne to the undeviating steadfastness of his adherence
to the cause of true religion places his character and reign in
honorable contrast with those of many of his royal predecessors.
3. in the eighth year of his reign--This was the sixteenth year of his
age, and, as the kings of Judah were considered minors till they had
completed their thirteenth year, it was three years after he had
attained majority. He had very early manifested the piety and excellent
dispositions of his character. In the twelfth year of his reign, but the
twentieth of his age, he began to take a lively interest in the
purgation of his kingdom from all the monuments of idolatry which, in
his father's short reign, had been erected. At a later period, his
increasing zeal for securing the purity of divine worship led him to
superintend the work of demolition in various parts of his dominion. The
course of the narrative in this passage is somewhat different from that
followed in the Book of Kings. For the historian, having made allusion
to the early manifestation of Josiah's zeal, goes on with a full detail
of all the measures this good king adopted for the extirpation of
idolatry; whereas the author of the Book of Kings sets out with the
cleansing of the temple, immediately previous to the celebration of the
passover, and embraces that occasion to give a general description of
Josiah's policy for freeing the land from idolatrous pollution. The
exact chronological order is not followed either in Kings or Chronicles.
But it is clearly recorded in both that the abolition of idolatry began
in the twelfth and was completed in the eighteenth year of Josiah's
reign. Notwithstanding Josiah's undoubted sincerity and zeal and the
people's apparent compliance with the king's orders, he could not
extinguish a strongly rooted attachment to idolatries introduced in the
early part of Manasseh's reign. This latent predilection appears
unmistakably developed in the subsequent reigns, and the divine decree
for the removal of Judah, as well as Israel, into captivity was
irrevocably passed.
4. the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them--He treated the
graves themselves as guilty of the crimes of those who were lying in
them [BERTHEAU].
5. he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars--A greater
brand of infamy could not have been put on idolatrous priests than the
disinterment of their bones, and a greater defilement could not have
been done to the altars of idolatry than the burning upon them the
bones of those who had there officiated in their lifetime.
6. with their mattocks--or, "in their deserts"--so that the verse
will stand thus: "And so did [namely, break the altars and burn the
bones of priests] he in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and
Simeon, even unto Naphtali, in their deserted suburbs." The reader is
apt to be surprised on finding that Josiah, whose hereditary
possessions were confined to the kingdom of Judah, exercised as much
authority among the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, Simeon, and others as
far as Naphtali, as he did within his own dominion. Therefore, it is
necessary to observe that, after the destruction of Samaria by
Shalmaneser, the remnant that continued on the mountains of Israel
maintained a close intercourse with Judah, and looked to the sovereigns
of that kingdom as their natural protectors. Those kings acquired great
influence over them, which Josiah exercised in removing every vestige
of idolatry from the land. He could not have done this without the
acquiescence of the people in the propriety of this proceeding,
conscious that this was conformable to their ancient laws and
institutions. The Assyrian kings, who were now masters of the country,
might have been displeased at the liberties Josiah took beyond his own
territories. But either they were not informed of his doings, or they
did not trouble themselves about his religious proceedings, relating,
as they would think, to the god of the land, especially as he did not
attempt to seize upon any place or to disturb the allegiance of the
people [CALMET].
2 Chronicles 34 Bible Commentary
Jamieson, Faussett, and Brown
2Ch 34:1, 2. JOSIAH'S GOOD REIGN.
1. Josiah was eight years old--(See on 2Ki 22:1). The testimony borne to the undeviating steadfastness of his adherence to the cause of true religion places his character and reign in honorable contrast with those of many of his royal predecessors.
2Ch 34:3-7. HE DESTROYS IDOLATRY.
3. in the eighth year of his reign--This was the sixteenth year of his age, and, as the kings of Judah were considered minors till they had completed their thirteenth year, it was three years after he had attained majority. He had very early manifested the piety and excellent dispositions of his character. In the twelfth year of his reign, but the twentieth of his age, he began to take a lively interest in the purgation of his kingdom from all the monuments of idolatry which, in his father's short reign, had been erected. At a later period, his increasing zeal for securing the purity of divine worship led him to superintend the work of demolition in various parts of his dominion. The course of the narrative in this passage is somewhat different from that followed in the Book of Kings. For the historian, having made allusion to the early manifestation of Josiah's zeal, goes on with a full detail of all the measures this good king adopted for the extirpation of idolatry; whereas the author of the Book of Kings sets out with the cleansing of the temple, immediately previous to the celebration of the passover, and embraces that occasion to give a general description of Josiah's policy for freeing the land from idolatrous pollution. The exact chronological order is not followed either in Kings or Chronicles. But it is clearly recorded in both that the abolition of idolatry began in the twelfth and was completed in the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign. Notwithstanding Josiah's undoubted sincerity and zeal and the people's apparent compliance with the king's orders, he could not extinguish a strongly rooted attachment to idolatries introduced in the early part of Manasseh's reign. This latent predilection appears unmistakably developed in the subsequent reigns, and the divine decree for the removal of Judah, as well as Israel, into captivity was irrevocably passed.
4. the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them--He treated the graves themselves as guilty of the crimes of those who were lying in them [BERTHEAU].
5. he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars--A greater brand of infamy could not have been put on idolatrous priests than the disinterment of their bones, and a greater defilement could not have been done to the altars of idolatry than the burning upon them the bones of those who had there officiated in their lifetime.
6. with their mattocks--or, "in their deserts"--so that the verse will stand thus: "And so did [namely, break the altars and burn the bones of priests] he in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali, in their deserted suburbs." The reader is apt to be surprised on finding that Josiah, whose hereditary possessions were confined to the kingdom of Judah, exercised as much authority among the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, Simeon, and others as far as Naphtali, as he did within his own dominion. Therefore, it is necessary to observe that, after the destruction of Samaria by Shalmaneser, the remnant that continued on the mountains of Israel maintained a close intercourse with Judah, and looked to the sovereigns of that kingdom as their natural protectors. Those kings acquired great influence over them, which Josiah exercised in removing every vestige of idolatry from the land. He could not have done this without the acquiescence of the people in the propriety of this proceeding, conscious that this was conformable to their ancient laws and institutions. The Assyrian kings, who were now masters of the country, might have been displeased at the liberties Josiah took beyond his own territories. But either they were not informed of his doings, or they did not trouble themselves about his religious proceedings, relating, as they would think, to the god of the land, especially as he did not attempt to seize upon any place or to disturb the allegiance of the people [CALMET].
2Ch 34:8-18. HE REPAIRS THE TEMPLE.
8. in the eighteenth year of his reign . . . he sent Shaphan--(See on 2Ki 22:3-9).
2Ch 34:19-33. AND, CAUSING THE LAW TO BE READ, RENEWS THE COVENANT BETWEEN GOD AND THE PEOPLE.
19. when the king had heard the words of the law, &c.--(See on 2Ki 22:11-20; 23:1-3).