22:1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned for thirty-one years in Jerusalem. 1 His mother 2 was Jedidah, daughter of Adaiah, from Bozkath. 22:2 He did what the Lord approved 3 and followed in his ancestor David’s footsteps; 4 he did not deviate to the right or the left.
22:3 In the eighteenth year of King Josiah’s reign, the king sent the scribe Shaphan son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, to the Lord’s temple with these orders: 5 22:4 “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest and have him melt down 6 the silver that has been brought by the people to the Lord’s temple and has been collected by the guards at the door. 22:5 Have them hand it over to the construction foremen 7 assigned to the Lord’s temple. They in turn should pay the temple workers to repair it, 8 22:6 including craftsmen, builders, and masons, and should buy wood and chiseled stone for the repair work. 9 22:7 Do not audit the foremen who disburse the silver, for they are honest.” 10
22:8 Hilkiah the high priest informed Shaphan the scribe, “I found the law scroll in the Lord’s temple.” Hilkiah gave the scroll to Shaphan and he read it.
1 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
2 tn Heb “the name of his mother.”
3 tn Heb “he did what was proper in the eyes of the
4 tn Heb “and walked in all the way of David his father.”
5 tn Heb “with these orders, saying.”
6 tc The MT has וְיַתֵּם (vÿyattem), “and let them add up” (Hiphil of תָּמָם [tammam], “be complete”), but the appearance of הִתִּיכוּ (hitikhu), “they melted down” (Hiphil of נָתַךְ [natakh], “pour out”) in v. 9 suggests that the verb form should be emended to וְיַתֵּךְ (vÿyattekh), “and let him melt down” (a Hiphil of נָתַךְ [natakh]). For a discussion of this and other options see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 281.
7 tn Heb “doers of the work.”
8 tn Heb “and let them give it to the doers of the work who are in the house of the
9 tn Heb “and to buy wood and chiseled stone to repair the house.”
10 tn Heb “only the silver that is given into their hand should not be reckoned with them, for in faithfulness they are acting.”