2 Chronicles 34

2 Chronicles 34 is the first of two chapters (34–35) devoted to the reign of Josiah. The preceding chapter, 2 Chronicles 33, closes with the reigns of Manasseh and Amon, and in this chapter the eight-year-old Josiah comes to the throne. The same events are also recorded in 2 Kings 22 and 2 Kings 23.

Outline

• Verses 1–2 Josiah becomes king at the age of eight and reigns in Jerusalem for thirty-one years. He walks in the ways of David.
• Verses 3–7 In the eighth year of his reign he begins to seek God, and in the twelfth year he removes the high places (sites of worship built on elevated ground), the Asherah poles, and the idols. He extends this purge to the territories of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon, and Naphtali.
• Verses 8–13 In his eighteenth year he sends Shaphan, Maaseiah, and Joah to begin repairing the temple. The money collected as offerings is used to pay the workers, and the Levites oversee the work.
• Verses 14–21 The high priest Hilkiah finds the Book of the Law in the temple. When Shaphan reads the book before the king, the king tears his clothes and sends men to inquire of the LORD.
• Verses 22–28 The prophetess Huldah delivers the word of the LORD: disaster will come upon Judah, but because Josiah humbled himself, he will not see that disaster and will be buried in peace.
• Verses 29–33 The king gathers the people, reads the book of the covenant, and makes a covenant. As long as Josiah lives, the people do not depart from the LORD.

Key Verses

• 2 Chronicles 34:3 "While he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father" — shows that the reform began with the faith of the young king.
• 2 Chronicles 34:19 "When the king had heard the words of the law, that he rent his clothes" — a scene of repentance in response to the Word.
• 2 Chronicles 34:31 "To walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and with all his soul" — the resolve of a single king leads to the covenant renewal of the whole people.

People and Places

• Hilkiah: the high priest who found the Book of the Law.
• Shaphan: the son of Azaliah and the scribe who read the Book of the Law before the king.
• Huldah: the wife of Shallum and a prophetess who lived in the Second Quarter of Jerusalem.
• Ahikam, Abdon, and Asaiah: the men who went to Huldah together with Hilkiah and Shaphan.
• Jahath, Obadiah, Zechariah, and Meshullam: Levites who supervised the temple repairs.
• Places: Jerusalem, the Temple in Jerusalem.

Points for Reflection

• 2 Kings presents the reform as beginning after the Book of the Law was found in Josiah's eighteenth year, whereas 2 Chronicles arranges the reform as beginning in his eighth and twelfth years. Some interpreters harmonize the two accounts chronologically, while others regard the arrangement as reflecting the Chronicler's theological emphasis.
• The text describes the discovered book only as "a book of the law of the LORD given by Moses." Scholars commonly identify it with Deuteronomy or its core, though some view it as the entire Pentateuch.
• The burning of the priests' bones in verse 5 is often read in connection with the prophecy in 1 Kings 13.
• Huldah is cited in discussions of women's ordination as an example of a woman who proclaimed the word of God. Opponents of the practice hold that the role of a prophet differs from church office.
• In the New Testament, Josiah appears in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1.

In the Korean Church

• The chapter is often cited in sermons, such as those for Reformation Sunday, as an example of reform that returns to the Word.
• In Sunday schools it is presented as the story of a king who sought God at a young age.