3 Now in the eighteenth e year of King Josiah , the king sent Shaphan , the son of Azaliah the son of Meshullam the scribe , to the house of the Lord saying , 4 " Go up to Hilkiah the high priest that he may count the money brought in to the house of the Lord which the doorkeepers have gathered from the people . 5 " Let them deliver it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord , and let them give it to the workmen who are in the house of the Lord to repair the damages of the house , 6 to the carpenters and the builders and the masons and for buying timber and hewn stone to repair the house . 7 "Only no accounting shall be made with them for the money delivered into their hands , for they deal faithfully ."
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 2 Kings 22:3-7
Commentary on 2 Kings 22:1-10
(Read 2 Kings 22:1-10)
The different event of Josiah's early succession from that of Manasseh, must be ascribed to the distinguishing grace of God; yet probably the persons that trained him up were instruments in producing this difference. His character was most excellent. Had the people joined in the reformation as heartily as he persevered in it, blessed effects would have followed. But they were wicked, and had become fools in idolatry. We do not obtain full knowledge of the state of Judah from the historical records, unless we refer to the writings of the prophets who lived at the time. In repairing the temple, the book of the law was found, and brought to the king. It seems, this book of the law was lost and missing; carelessly mislaid and neglected, as some throw their Bibles into corners, or maliciously concealed by some of the idolaters. God's care of the Bible plainly shows his interest in it. Whether this was the only copy in being or not, the things contained in it were new, both to the king and to the high priest. No summaries, extracts, or collections out of the Bible, can convey and preserve the knowledge of God and his will, like the Bible itself. It was no marvel that the people were so corrupt, when the book of the law was so scarce; they that corrupted them, no doubt, used arts to get that book out of their hands. The abundance of Bibles we possess aggravates our national sins; for what greater contempt of God can we show, than to refuse to read his word when put into our hands, or, reading it, not to believe and obey it? By the holy law is the knowledge of sin, and by the blessed gospel is the knowledge of salvation. When the former is understood in its strictness and excellence, the sinner begins to inquire, What must I do to be saved? And the ministers of the gospel point out to him Jesus Christ, as the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.