2 Chronicles 34:1-13

Josiah Institutes Religious Reforms

34:1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned for thirty-one years in Jerusalem. ¹  34:2 He did what the Lord approved ²  and followed in his ancestor David’s footsteps; ³  he did not deviate to the right or the left.

34:3 In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his ancestor ⁴  David. In his twelfth year he began ridding ⁵  Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, Asherah poles, idols, and images. 34:4 He ordered the altars of the Baals to be torn down, ⁶  and broke the incense altars that were above them. He smashed the Asherah poles, idols and images, crushed them up and sprinkled the dust over the tombs of those who had sacrificed to them. 34:5 He burned the bones of the pagan priests ⁷  on their altars; he purified Judah and Jerusalem. 34:6 In the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, as far as Naphtali, and in the ruins ⁸  around them, 34:7 he tore down the altars and Asherah poles, demolished the idols, and smashed all the incense altars throughout the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

34:8 In the eighteenth year of his reign, he continued his policy of purifying the land and the temple. ⁹  He sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the city official, and Joah son of Joahaz the secretary to repair the temple of the Lord his God. 34:9 They went to Hilkiah the high priest and gave him the silver that had been brought to God’s temple. The Levites who guarded the door had collected it from the people of ¹⁰  Manasseh and Ephraim and from all who were left in Israel, as well as from all the people of ¹¹  Judah and Benjamin and the residents of ¹²  Jerusalem. 34:10 They handed it over to the construction foremen ¹³  assigned to the Lord’s temple. They in turn paid the temple workers to restore and repair it. ¹⁴  34:11 They gave money to the craftsmen and builders to buy chiseled stone and wood for the braces and rafters of the buildings that the kings of Judah had allowed to fall into disrepair. ¹⁵  34:12 The men worked faithfully. Their supervisors were Jahath and Obadiah (Levites descended from Merari), as well as Zechariah and Meshullam (descendants of Kohath). The Levites, all of whom were skilled musicians, 34:13 supervised the laborers and all the foremen on their various jobs. ¹⁶  Some of the Levites were scribes, officials, and guards.

[34:1]  ¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[34:2]  ² tn Heb “he did what was proper in the eyes of the Lord.”

[34:2]  ³ tn Heb “and walked in the ways of David his father.”

[34:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “father.”

[34:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “purifying.”

[34:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “and they tore down before him the altars of the Baals.”

[34:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “the priests”; the qualifying adjective “pagan” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[34:6]  ⁸ tn “In their ruins” is the marginal reading (Qere) of the Hebrew text.

[34:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “to purify the land and the house.”

[34:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “from Manasseh and Ephraim.” The words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarity. The Hebrew text uses the names “Manasseh and Ephraim” here by metonymy for the people of Manasseh and Ephraim.

[34:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “all Judah and Benjamin.” The words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarity. The Hebrew text uses the names “Judah and Benjamin” here by metonymy for the people of Judah and Benjamin.

[34:9]  ¹² tc The Hebrew consonantal text (Kethib) assumes the reading, “and the residents of.” The marginal reading (Qere) is “and they returned.”

[34:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “doer[s] of the work.”

[34:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and they gave it to the doers of the work who were working in the house of the Lord to restore and to repair the house.”

[34:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “of the houses that the kings of Judah had destroyed.”

[34:13]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “[were] over the laborers and were directing every doer of work for work assignment and work assignment.”