Josiah (51 Occurrences)
...Josiah immediately gathered the people together, and engaged them in a renewal of
their ancient national covenant with God. ... This Josiah refused to permit. ...
/j/josiah.htm - 42k

Josiah's (4 Occurrences)
... Multi-Version Concordance Josiah's (4 Occurrences). ... (See NIV). 2 Chronicles 35:19
In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah was this passover kept. ...
/j/josiah's.htm - 7k

Josi'ah (50 Occurrences)
Josi'ah. Josiah, Josi'ah. Josiah's . ... Matthew 1:10 and Hezekiah begat Manasseh,
and Manasseh begat Amon, and Amon begat Josiah, (See RSV). ...
/j/josi'ah.htm - 21k

Jehoi'akim (34 Occurrences)
... 2 Kings 23:34 And Pharaoh-necoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the room
of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim; but he took Jehoahaz ...
/j/jehoi'akim.htm - 16k

Necho (3 Occurrences)
... Easton's Bible Dictionary Necho II. An Egyptian king, the son and successor of
Psammetichus (BC 610-594), the contemporary of Josiah, king of Judah. ...
/n/necho.htm - 9k

Neco (9 Occurrences)
... 2 Kings 23:29 In his days Pharaoh Necoh king of Egypt went up against the king of
Assyria to the river Euphrates: and king Josiah went against him; and Pharaoh ...
/n/neco.htm - 11k

Pharaoh-necoh (3 Occurrences)
... 2. Battle of Megiddo, 608 BC: On his expedition toward the East, he had to pass
through the territory of Judah, and he desired to have Josiah its king as an ...
/p/pharaoh-necoh.htm - 12k

Chemosh (8 Occurrences)
... The worship of this god, "the abomination of Moab," was introduced at Jerusalem
by Solomon (1 Kings 11:7), but was abolished by Josiah (2 Kings 23:13). ...
/c/chemosh.htm - 20k

Shaphan (26 Occurrences)
... A coney, a scribe or secretary of king Josiah (2 Kings 22:3-7). He consulted Huldah
concerning the newly-discovered copy of the law which was delivered to him ...
/s/shaphan.htm - 18k

Amon (20 Occurrences)
... the latter was immediately suppressed by "the people of the land," who put to death
the conspirators and placed Amon's eight-year-old son Josiah on the throne. ...
/a/amon.htm - 18k

Josiah (51 Occurrences)

Matthew 1:10 Hezekiah became the father of Manasseh. Manasseh became the father of Amon. Amon became the father of Josiah.
(WEB WEY ASV BBE YLT NAS NIV)

Matthew 1:11 Josiah became the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the exile to Babylon.
(WEB WEY ASV BBE YLT NAS NIV)

1 Kings 13:2 He cried against the altar by the word of Yahweh, and said, "Altar, altar, thus says Yahweh:'Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name. On you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and they will burn men's bones on you.'"
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

2 Kings 21:24 But the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

2 Kings 21:26 He was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza: and Josiah his son reigned in his place.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

2 Kings 22:1 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign; and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

2 Kings 22:3 It happened 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 Yahweh, saying,
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

2 Kings 23:11 He took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entrance of the house of Yahweh, by the chamber of Nathan Melech the officer, who was in the court; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.
(See NIV)

2 Kings 23:16 As Josiah turned himself, he spied the tombs that were there in the mountain; and he sent, and took the bones out of the tombs, and burned them on the altar, and defiled it, according to the word of Yahweh which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these things.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

2 Kings 23:19 All the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke Yahweh to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

2 Kings 23:23 but in the eighteenth year of king Josiah was this Passover kept to Yahweh in Jerusalem.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

2 Kings 23:24 Moreover those who had familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the teraphim, and the idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might confirm the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of Yahweh.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

2 Kings 23:28 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

2 Kings 23:29 In his days Pharaoh Necoh king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates: and king Josiah went against him; and Pharaoh Necoh killed him at Megiddo, when he had seen him.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

2 Kings 23:30 His servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own tomb. The people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father's place.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

2 Kings 23:34 Pharaoh Necoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the room of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim: but he took Jehoahaz away; and he came to Egypt, and died there.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

1 Chronicles 3:14 Amon his son, Josiah his son.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

1 Chronicles 3:15 The sons of Josiah: the firstborn Johanan, the second Jehoiakim, the third Zedekiah, the fourth Shallum.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

2 Chronicles 33:25 But the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

2 Chronicles 34:1 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign; and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

2 Chronicles 34:33 Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of Israel, and made all who were found in Israel to serve, even to serve Yahweh their God. All his days they didn't depart from following Yahweh, the God of their fathers.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

2 Chronicles 35:1 Josiah kept a Passover to Yahweh in Jerusalem: and they killed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

2 Chronicles 35:7 Josiah gave to the children of the people, of the flock, lambs and young goats, all of them for the Passover offerings, to all who were present, to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand bulls: these were of the king's substance.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

2 Chronicles 35:16 So all the service of Yahweh was prepared the same day, to keep the Passover, and to offer burnt offerings on the altar of Yahweh, according to the commandment of king Josiah.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

2 Chronicles 35:18 There was no Passover like that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did any of the kings of Israel keep such a Passover as Josiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

2 Chronicles 35:19 In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah was this Passover kept.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

2 Chronicles 35:20 After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Neco king of Egypt went up to fight against Carchemish by the Euphrates: and Josiah went out against him.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

2 Chronicles 35:22 Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself, that he might fight with him, and didn't listen to the words of Neco from the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

2 Chronicles 35:23 The archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to his servants, Have me away; for I am sore wounded.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

2 Chronicles 35:24 So his servants took him out of the chariot, and put him in the second chariot that he had, and brought him to Jerusalem; and he died, and was buried in the tombs of his fathers. All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS)

2 Chronicles 35:25 Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and singing women spoke of Josiah in their lamentations to this day; and they made them an ordinance in Israel: and behold, they are written in the lamentations.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

2 Chronicles 35:26 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and his good deeds, according to that which is written in the law of Yahweh,
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

2 Chronicles 36:1 Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in his father's place in Jerusalem.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

Jeremiah 1:2 to whom the word of Yahweh came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

Jeremiah 1:3 It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, to the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, to the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

Jeremiah 3:6 Moreover Yahweh said to me in the days of Josiah the king, Have you seen that which backsliding Israel has done? she is gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and there has played the prostitute.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

Jeremiah 22:11 For thus says Yahweh touching Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and who went forth out of this place: He shall not return there any more.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

Jeremiah 22:18 Therefore thus says Yahweh concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! They shall not lament for him, saying Ah lord! or, Ah his glory!
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

Jeremiah 25:1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (the same was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon),
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

Jeremiah 25:3 From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, these twenty-three years, the word of Yahweh has come to me, and I have spoken to you, rising up early and speaking; but you have not listened.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

Jeremiah 26:1 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, came this word from Yahweh, saying,
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

Jeremiah 27:1 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, came this word to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying,
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

Jeremiah 35:1 The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying,
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

Jeremiah 36:1 It happened in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, that this word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying,
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

Jeremiah 36:2 Take a scroll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, even to this day.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

Jeremiah 36:9 Now it happened in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, that all the people in Jerusalem, and all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem, proclaimed a fast before Yahweh.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

Jeremiah 37:1 Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned as king, instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

Jeremiah 45:1 The message that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah, when he wrote these words in a book at the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying,
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

Jeremiah 46:2 Of Egypt: concerning the army of Pharaoh Necoh king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

Zephaniah 1:1 The word of Yahweh which came to Zephaniah, the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

Zechariah 6:10 "Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah; and come the same day, and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah, where they have come from Babylon.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

Josiah

the Lord burns; the fire of the Lord

Josiah

(whom Jehovah heals).

1. The son of Amon and Jedidah, succeeded his father B.C. 641, in the eighty years of his age, and reigned 31 years. His history is contained in (2 Kings 22:1; 2 Kings 24:30; 2 Chronicles 34:1; 2 Chronicles 35:1) ... and the first twelve chapters of Jeremiah throw much light upon the general character of the Jews in his day. He began in the eighth year of his reign to seek the Lord; and in his twelfth year, and for six years afterward, in a personal progress throughout all the land of Judah and Israel, he destroyed everywhere high places, groves, images and all outward signs and relics of idolatry. The temple was restored under a special commission; and in the course of the repairs Hilkiah the priest found that book of the law of the Lord which quickened so remarkably the ardent zeal of the king. He was aided by Jeremiah the prophet in spreading through his kingdom the knowledge and worship of Jehovah. The great day of Josiah's life was the day of the passover in the eighteenth year of his reign. After this his endeavors to abolish every trace of idolatry and superstition were still carried on; but the time drew near which had been indicated by Huldah. (2 Kings 22:20) When Pharaoh-necho went from Egypt to Carchemish to carry on his war along the seacoast. Necho reluctantly paused and gave him battle in the valley of Esdraelon. Josiah was mortally wounded, and died before he could reach Jerusalem. He was buried with extraordinary honors.
2. The son of Zephaniah, at whose house took place the solemn and symbolical crowning of Joshua the high priest. (Zechariah 6:10) (B.C. about 1520.)

Josiah

Son of Amon and great-grandson of Hezekiah, a pious king of Judah, who introduced great reforms in the temple worship, and in the religious character of the nation in general. No king set himself more earnestly to destroy every vestige of idolatry out of the land. Among other things, he defiled the altars of the idols at Bethel by burning upon them the bones from the tombs of their deceased priests; as had been foretold more than three centuries before, 1 Kings 13:2. While cleaning and repairing the temple at his command, the priests found the temple copy of the five books of the law, perhaps the original copy from Moses' own hand. The sacred book was too much neglected in those days of declension; and even the pious Josiah seems to have been impressed by the closing chapters of Deuteronomy as though he had never read them before. To avert the judgments there threatened, he humbled himself before God, and sought to bring the people to repentance. He caused them to renew their covenant with Jehovah, and celebrated the Passover with a solemnity like that of its first institution. The repentance of the people was heartless, and did not avert the divine judgments. Josiah, however, was taken away from the evil to come. He met death in battle with Pharaohnecho, whose passage across his territory to attack the king of Assyria, Josiah felt obliged to resist. The death of this wise and pious king was deeply lamented, by the prophet Jeremiah and all the people, Zechariah 12:11. He began to reign B. C. 641, at the age of eight years, and reigned thirty-one years, 2 Kings 22:1-23:37 2 Chronicles 34:1-35:27.

Healed by Jehovah, or Jehovah will support. The son of Amon, and his successor on the throne of Judah (2 Kings 22:1; 2 Chronicles 34:1). His history is contained in 2 Kings 22, 23. He stands foremost among all the kings of the line of David for unswerving loyalty to Jehovah (23:25). He "did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the way of David his father." He ascended the throne at the early age of eight years, and it appears that not till eight years afterwards did he begin "to seek after the God of David his father." At that age he devoted himself to God. He distinguished himself by beginning a war of extermination against the prevailing idolatry, which had practically been the state religion for some seventy years (2 Chronicles 34:3; Comp. Jeremiah 25:3, 11, 29).

In the eighteenth year of his reign he proceeded to repair and beautify the temple, which by time and violence had become sorely dilapidated (2 Kings 22:3, 5, 6; 23:23; 2 Chronicles 34:11). While this work was being carried on, Hilkiah, the high priest, discovered a roll, which was probably the original copy of the law, the entire Pentateuch, written by Moses.

When this book was read to him, the king was alarmed by the things it contained, and sent for Huldah, the "prophetess," for her counsel. She spoke to him words of encouragement, telling him that he would be gathered to his fathers in peace before the threatened days of judgment came. Josiah immediately gathered the people together, and engaged them in a renewal of their ancient national covenant with God. The Passover was then celebrated, as in the days of his great predecessor, Hezekiah, with unusual magnificence. Nevertheless, "the Lord turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah" (2 Kings 22:3-20; 23:21-27; 2 Chronicles 35:1-19). During the progress of this great religious revolution Jeremiah helped it on by his earnest exhortations.

Soon after this, Pharaoh-Necho II. (q.v.), king of Egypt, in an expedition against the king of Assyria, with the view of gaining possession of Carchemish, sought a passage through the territory of Judah for his army. This Josiah refused to permit. He had probably entered into some new alliance with the king of Assyria, and faithful to his word he sought to oppose the progress of Necho.

The army of Judah went out and encountered that of Egypt at Megiddo, on the verge of the plain of Esdraelon. Josiah went into the field in disguise, and was fatally wounded by a random arrow. His attendants conveyed him toward Jerusalem, but had only reached Hadadrimmon, a few miles south of Megiddo, when he died (2 Kings 23:28, 30; Comp. 2 Chronicles 35:20-27), after a reign of thirty-one years. He was buried with the greatest honours in fulfilment of Huldah's prophecy (2 Kings 22:20; Comp. Jeremiah 34:5). Jeremiah composed a funeral elegy on this the best of the kings of Israel (Lamentations 4:20; 2 Chronicles 35:25). The outburst of national grief on account of his death became proverbial (Zechariah 12:11; Comp. Revelation 16:16).

JOSIAH

jo-si'-a (yo'shiyahu, "Yahweh supports him"; Ioseias; the King James Version Josias (which see)):

I. SOURCES FOR HIS LIFE AND TIMES

1. Annalistic

2. Prophetic

3. Memorial

II. TRAITS OF HIS REIGN

1. Situation at the Beginning

2. Finding of the Law

3. The Great Reform

4. Disaster at Megiddo

The name given 6 years before the death of his grandfather Manasseh resumes the Judaic custom, suspended in the case of that king and Amon, of compounding royal names with that of Yahweh; perhaps a hint of the time, when, according to the Chronicler, Manasseh realized Yahweh's claim on his realm (2 Chronicles 33:12, 13). One of the most eminent of the kings of Judah; came to the throne at 8 years of age and reigned circa 637-608 B.C.

I. Sources for His Life and Times.

1. Annalistic:

The earliest history is dispassionate in tone, betraying its prophetic feeling, however, in its acknowledgment of Yahweh's wrath, still menacing in spite of Josiah's unique piety (2 Kings 23:26, 27). For "the rest of his acts" (to which the rather bald account of his death is relegated as a kind of appendix), it refers to "the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah." In the later history (2 Chronicles 34; 35), written from the developed ecclesiastical point of view, he is considerably idealized: the festal and ceremonial aspects of his reform are more fully detailed, and the story of his campaign and death is more sympathetically told in the sense of it as a great national calamity.

2. Prophetic:

For the spiritual atmosphere of his time and the prophetic consciousness of a day of wrath impending, the prophet Zephaniah is illuminating, especially for the first half of the reign. Jeremiah, born at about the same time as Josiah, began prophesying in the 13th year of the reign (Jeremiah 1:2). His intimate connection with state affairs, however, belongs to succeeding reigns; but some prophecies of his, notably those revealing his attitude toward the temple misuse (7:1-15) and toward the Deuteronomic reform (11:1-13), throw much light on the prevailing conditions. Nahum, writing near the end of the reign, and from an outlying village, is less concerned with home affairs than with the approaching end of Nineveh (fell 606 B.C.).

3. Memorial:

In Jesus Sirach's Praise of Famous Men there is a passage (Sirach 49:1-4), wholly eulogistic of Josiah, on the score that "in the days of wicked men he made godliness to prevail"; and along with David and Hezekiah he is one of the three who alone did not "commit trespass." Jeremiah's lamentation for. Josiah, mentioned in 2 Chronicles 35:25, is not preserved to us; instead there is only an allusion (Jeremiah 22:10), naming his successor Shallum (Jehoahaz) as a fitter subject. The lamentations which became "an ordinance in Israel" (2 Chronicles 35:25) are not to be referred to the Scripture book of that name; which has no hint of Josiah, unless Lamentations 4:20 be so construed.

II. Traits of His Reign.

1. Situation at the Beginning:

Until his 18th year 2 Kings gives no events of Josiah's reign; 2 Chronicles, however, relates that in his 8th year (at 16 years of age) he "began to seek after the God of David his father," and that in the 12th year he began the purgation of Judah and Jerusalem. The Chronicler may be mistaken in putting the completion of this work before the finding of the law (2 Chronicles 34:8), but of his disposition and of his beginning without documentary warrant on a work which Hezekiah had attempted before him, there is no reason to doubt. And indeed various influences were working together to make his procedure natural. The staunch loyalty to the Davidic house, as emphasized by the popular movement which seated him (see under AMON), would in itself be an influence to turn his mind to the God of David his father. Manasseh's all-embracing idolatry had indeed reduced his aristocracy to a people "settled on their lees, that say in their heart, Yahweh will not do good, neither will he do evil" (Zechariah 1:12); but these represented merely the inertia, not the intelligence, of the people. Over against them is to be reckoned the spiritually-minded "remnant" with which since Isaiah the prophets had been working; a remnant now seasoned by persecution, and already committed to the virtue of meekness (Zechariah 2:3) and the willing acceptance of affliction as their appointed lot, as against the arrogance of the "proudly exulting ones" (Zechariah 3:11-13). To such courage and hope the redeeming element of Israel had grown in the midst of a blatant infidelity and worldliness. Nor were they so unconnected with the established order as formerly. The ministers of the temple-service, if not subjected to persecution, had been ranked on a level with devotees of other cults, and so had a common cause which would work to unite the sympathies of priests and prophets in one loyalty to Yahweh. All this is adduced as indicating how the better elements of the nation were ripening for a forward step in enlightened religious progress.

2. Finding of the Law:

The providential moment arrived when in the 18th year of his reign Josiah sent Shaphan the scribe to the temple to arrange with Hilkiah the high priest for the prescribed temple repairs. On giving his account of the funds for that purpose, Hilkiah also delivered to Shaphan a book which he had found in the "house of Yahweh," that is, in the temple proper; which book, when Shaphan read therefrom to the king, caused the latter to rend his robe in dismay and consternation. It was a book in which were commands of Yahweh that had long been unknown or disregarded, and along with these, fearful curses to follow the infraction of them. Such a discovery could not be treated lightly, as one might spurn a prophet or priest; nay, it immediately called the authority of the prophet into requisition. The king sent a deputation to Huldah the prophetess for her verdict on the book; and she, whether aware of its contents or not, assured him that the curses were valid, and that for impieties against which the prophets continually warned, all the woes written in the book were impending. One of the most voluminous discussions of Biblical scholarship has centered round the question what this book was, what its origin, and how it came there in the temple. The Chronicler says roundly it was "the book of the law of Yahweh by the hand of Moses." That it was from the nation's great first prophet and lawgiver was the implicit belief of the king and all his contemporaries. There can be little doubt, judging from the nature of the reforms it elicited and the fact that the curses it contained are still extant, that this "book of the law" was virtually identical with our Book of Deuteronomy. But is this the work of Moses, or the product of a later literary activity? In answer, it is fair to say that it is so true to the soundest interpretation of the spirit and power of Moses that there need be no hesitation in calling it genuinely Mosaic, whatever adaptations and supplementations its laws received after his time. Its highly developed style, however, and its imperfect conformity to the nomadic conditions of Moses' time, make so remote an origin of its present form very doubtful. It comes to us written with the matured skill of Israel's literary prime, in a time too when, as we know (see under HEZEKIAH), men of letters were keenly interested in rescuing and putting to present use the literary treasures of their past. As to how it came to be left in the temple at a time so much before its discovery that none questioned its being what it purported to be, each scholar must answer for himself. Some have conjectured that it may have been a product of Solomon's time, and deposited, according to immemorial custom in temple-building, in the foundation of Solomon's temple, where it was found when certain ruins made repairs necessary. To the present writer it seems likelier that it was one of the literary products of Hezekiah's time, compiled from scattered statutes, precedents, and customs long in the keeping-or neglect-of priests and judges, put into the attractive form of oratory, and left for its providential moment.

Seefurther, DEUTERONOMY; WRITING.

3. The Great Reform:

Josiah's immediate procedure was to call to the temple a representative assemblage-elders, prophets, priests, populace-and to read to them this "book of the covenant" (2 Kings 23:2). Then he made a solemn covenant before Yahweh to obey it, and all the people stood to the covenant. So, perhaps for the first time, the people of Judah and Jerusalem had for their guidance not only the case decisions of judges and priests, nor only the emergency warnings and predictions of prophets, but a written and accessible document, covering in a large and liberal way the duties of their civic, social and religious life. One of the most momentous productions of all history, the book became the constitution of the Jewish race; nor were its noble provisions superseded when, centuries later, the tethers of race were broken and a Christian civilization came into its heritage. But the book that was destined to have so large a significance in all coming history had its immediate significance too, and never had this been so pressing. Josiah's consternation arose from the sense of how much of the nation's obvious duty had been left undone and unregarded. First of all, they had through heedless years and ages drifted into a medley of religious ideas and customs which had accumulated until all this lumber of Manasseh's idolatry was upon them. Hezekiah had tried to clear away some of its most crude and superstitious elements (see under HEZEKIAH), but he was handicapped by the lack of its clear issue and objective, which now this book supplied. Zephaniah too was showing what Yahweh's will was (Zechariah 1:2-6); there must be a clean sweep of the debasing and obscuring cults, and the purgation must be done to stay. So Josiah's first reforming step was to break up the high places, the numerous centers of the evil, to destroy the symbols and utensils of the idolatrous shrines and rites, and to defile them past resuscitation. His zeal did not stop with Jerusalem and Judah; he went on to Bethel, which had been the chief sanctuary of the now defunct Northern Kingdom, and in his work here was recognized the fulfillment of an old prophecy dating from the time of its first king (2 Kings 23:17; compare 1 Kings 13:1, 2). This necessitated the concentration of public worship in the temple at Jerusalem, and in Deuteronomy was found the warrant for this, in the prescript, natural to Moses' point of view, that the worship of Israel must have a single center as it had in the wilderness. From this negative procedure he went on to the positive measure of reviving the festival services inseparable from a religion requiring pilgrimage, instituting a grand Passover on a scale unheard of since the time of the Judges (2 Kings 23:21, 22), a feature of his reform on which the Chronicler dwells with peculiar zest (2 Chronicles 35:1-15). Thus both in the idolatries they must abolish and in the organized worship that they must maintain, the people were committed to a definite and documented issue; this it was which made Josiah's reform so momentous. That the reform seemed after Josiah's untimely death to have been merely outward, is what might reasonably be expected from the inveteracy of the unspirituality that it must encounter. Jeremiah had small faith in its saving power against the stubborn perversity of the people (Jeremiah 11:1-14); and the historian of 2 Kings intimates that more than the piety of a zealous king was needed to turn away the stern decree of Yahweh's anger (2 Kings 23:26, 27). In spite of all hardness and apostasy, however, the nation that had once "stood to the covenant" of Deuteronomy could never again be at heart the nation it was before.

4. Disaster at Megiddo:

Ardent and pious as he was, there seems to have been a lack of balance in Josiah's character. His extreme dismay and dread of the curse pronounced on the realm's neglect of the law seems to have been followed, after his great reform had seemed to set things right, by an excess of confidence in Yahweh's restored favor which went beyond sound wisdom, and amounted to presumption. The power of Assyria was weakening, and Pharaoh-necoh of Egypt, ambitious to secure control of Mesopotamia, started on the campaign in which he was eventually to suffer defeat at Carchemish. Josiah, whose reforming zeal had already achieved success in Northern Israel, apparently cherished inordinate dreams of invincibility in Yahweh's name, and went forth with a little army to withstand the Egyptian monarch on his march through the northern provinces. At the first onset he was killed, and his expedition came to nothing. In his untimely death the fervid hopes of the pious received a set-back which was long lamented as one of the cardinal disasters of Israel. It was a sore calamity, but also a stern education. Israel must learn not only the enthusiasm but also the prudence and wisdom of its new-found faith.

(2) A contemporary of Zechariah (Zechariah 6:10), at whose house in Jerusalem the prophet met some returned Jews from Babylon.

John Franklin Genung

2502b. Iosias -- Josiah, a king of Judah
... 2502a, 2502b. Iosias. 2503 . Josiah, a king of Judah. Transliteration:
Iosias Short Definition: Josiah. Word Origin of Hebrew origin ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2502b.htm - 5k

2502. Iosias -- Josech, an Israelite
... Josech, an Israelite. Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine Transliteration: Iosias Phonetic
Spelling: (ee-o-see'-as) Short Definition: Josiah Definition: (Hebrew ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2502.htm - 5k

301. Amos -- Amos, an Israelite ancestor of Christ
... Indeclinable Transliteration: Amos Phonetic Spelling: (am-oce') Short Definition:
Amos Definition: Amos, son of Manasseh and father of Josiah, an ancestor of ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/301.htm - 6k

300. Amon -- Amon, a king of Judah
... Transliteration: Amon Phonetic Spelling: (am-one') Short Definition: Amon Definition:
Amon (Amos), son of Manasseh and father of Josiah, an ancestor of Jesus. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/300.htm - 6k

2423. Iechonias -- Jeconiah, a king of Judah
... Transliteration: Iechonias Phonetic Spelling: (ee-ekh-on-ee'-as) Short Definition:
Jechoniah Definition: (Hebrew), Jechoniah, son of Josiah and father of ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2423.htm - 6k

3040. Yedidah -- "beloved," mother of King Josiah
... 3039, 3040. Yedidah. 3041 . "beloved," mother of King Josiah. Transliteration:
Yedidah Phonetic Spelling: (yed-ee-daw') Short Definition: Jedidah. ...
/hebrew/3040.htm - 6k

2977. Yoshiyyah -- "Yah supports," two Israelites
... "Yah supports," two Israelites. Transliteration: Yoshiyyah or Yoshiyyahu Phonetic
Spelling: (yo-shee-yaw') Short Definition: Josiah. ... Josiah. ...
/hebrew/2977.htm - 6k

Josiah
... THE SECOND BOOK OF CHRONICLES JOSIAH. 'Josiah ... consequence. What is important is the
fiery energy of Josiah in the work of destruction of the idols. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/maclaren/expositions of holy scripture g/josiah.htm

Josiah and the Newly Found Law
... THE SECOND BOOK OF CHRONICLES JOSIAH AND THE NEWLY FOUND LAW. ... About one hundred
years separated Hezekiah's restoration from Josiah's. ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture g/josiah and the newly found.htm

Manasseh and Josiah
... National Retribution Chapter 32 Manasseh and Josiah. The kingdom of Judah,
prosperous throughout the times of Hezekiah, was once ...
/.../white/the story of prophets and kings/chapter 32 manasseh and josiah.htm

How Josiah Fought with Neco [King of Egypt. ] and was Wounded and ...
... CHAPTER 5. How Josiah Fought With Neco [King Of Egypt.] And Was Wounded And Died
In A Little Time Afterward; As Also How Neco Carried Jehoahaz, Who Had Been ...
/.../josephus/the antiquities of the jews/chapter 5 how josiah fought.htm

Josiah, a Pattern for the Ignorant.
... SERMON VII. Josiah, a Pattern for the Ignorant. "Because thine heart was
tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when ...
/.../newman/parochial and plain sermons vol viii/sermon vii josiah a pattern.htm

The Young Josiah and the Book of the Law
... THE OLD TESTAMENT THE YOUNG JOSIAH AND THE BOOK OF THE LAW. Josiah was eight years
old when he began to rule, and he ruled thirty-one years in Jerusalem. ...
/.../christianbookshelf.org/sherman/the childrens bible/the young josiah and the.htm

How Amon Reigned Instead of Manasseh; and after Amon Reigned ...
... CHAPTER 4. How Amon Reigned Instead Of Manasseh; And After Amon Reigned Josiah;
He Was Both Righteous And Religious. As Also Concerning Huldah The Prophetess. ...
/.../josephus/the antiquities of the jews/chapter 4 how amon reigned.htm

The Prophet in the Reign of Josiah. 627-26-608 BC
... Lecture IV. THE PROPHET IN THE REIGN OF JOSIAH. 627-26-608 BC. This period
of the Prophet's career may be taken in three divisions:" ...
//christianbookshelf.org/smith/jeremiah/lecture iv the prophet in.htm

From Megiddo to Carchemish, 608-605.
... Josiah's faithful reign, and with it all thorough efforts to fulfil the National
Covenant,(302) came to a tragic close on the field of Megiddo"the Flodden of ...
//christianbookshelf.org/smith/jeremiah/1 from megiddo to carchemish.htm

The Captivity.
... people had become so corrupt, that even when Amon was murdered in 642, after only
reigning two years, and better days came back with the good Josiah, it was ...
//christianbookshelf.org/yonge/the chosen people/lesson x the captivity.htm

Iconoclasm: Destroyed by Josiah

Josiah

Josiah: King of Judah

Josiah: King of Judah in Keeping a Solemn Passover

Josiah: King of Judah: Ancestor of Jesus

Josiah: King of Judah: Called Josias

Josiah: King of Judah: Destroys the Altar and High Places of Idolatry

Josiah: King of Judah: Killed in Battle With Pharaoh-Necho

Josiah: King of Judah: Lamentations For

Josiah: King of Judah: Piety of Exemplified in his Repairing of the Temple

Josiah: King of Judah: Prophecies Concerning

Josiah: King of Judah: Solicitude when the Copy of the Law Was Discovered and Read to Him

Josiah: Son of Zephaniah

Josiah's (4 Occurrences)

Josi'ah (50 Occurrences)

Jehoi'akim (34 Occurrences)

Necho (3 Occurrences)

Neco (9 Occurrences)

Pharaoh-necoh (3 Occurrences)

Chemosh (8 Occurrences)

Shaphan (26 Occurrences)

Amon (20 Occurrences)

Necoh (4 Occurrences)

Jeho'ahaz (20 Occurrences)

Meshullam (25 Occurrences)

Pharaohnecoh

Phrat (17 Occurrences)

Celebrated (24 Occurrences)

Megiddo (13 Occurrences)

Eliakim (14 Occurrences)

Moloch (2 Occurrences)

Jehoahaz (22 Occurrences)

Zedeki'ah (62 Occurrences)

Carchemish (3 Occurrences)

Euphra'tes (33 Occurrences)

Johanan (31 Occurrences)

Eighteenth (11 Occurrences)

Molech (16 Occurrences)

Megid'do (12 Occurrences)

Pharaoh-nechoh (3 Occurrences)

Pharaohnechoh (3 Occurrences)

Car'chemish (3 Occurrences)

Ahikam (20 Occurrences)

Jehoiakim (37 Occurrences)

Engage (20 Occurrences)

Shallum (27 Occurrences)

Nebuchadrez'zar (31 Occurrences)

Removal (42 Occurrences)

Canonicity

Zephaniah (11 Occurrences)

Lament (44 Occurrences)

Reigning (57 Occurrences)

Marched (51 Occurrences)

Korahites (7 Occurrences)

Zacharias (11 Occurrences)

Zephani'ah (10 Occurrences)

Karkemish (2 Occurrences)

Obadiah (21 Occurrences)

Joah (10 Occurrences)

Jeconias

Josias (2 Occurrences)

Jedidah (1 Occurrence)

Jahath (7 Occurrences)

Jeiel (13 Occurrences)

Lamented (19 Occurrences)

Laments (4 Occurrences)

Levites (267 Occurrences)

Lamenteth (4 Occurrences)

Libnah (18 Occurrences)

Thirteenth (12 Occurrences)

Thirty-one (3 Occurrences)

Riblah (12 Occurrences)

Recorder (10 Occurrences)

Eliakim's (2 Occurrences)

Eli'akim (12 Occurrences)

Esdras

Eleventh (19 Occurrences)

Megiddon (1 Occurrence)

Makers (20 Occurrences)

Maaseiah (25 Occurrences)

Plotted (21 Occurrences)

Priests (451 Occurrences)

Bozkath (2 Occurrences)

Chanted (4 Occurrences)

Charchemish (1 Occurrence)

Composed (8 Occurrences)

Changing (31 Occurrences)

Commemorate (2 Occurrences)

Conspiring (4 Occurrences)

Adaiah (8 Occurrences)

Abdon (8 Occurrences)

Azaliah (3 Occurrences)

Bible Concordance • Bible Dictionary • Bible Encyclopedia • Topical Bible • Bible Thesuarus