2 Kings 22:1-9

Josiah Repents

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. 22:9 Shaphan the scribe went to the king and reported, ¹¹  “Your servants melted down the silver in the temple ¹²  and handed it over to the construction foremen assigned to the Lord’s temple.”

[22:1]  ¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[22:1]  ² tn Heb “the name of his mother.”

[22:2]  ³ tn Heb “he did what was proper in the eyes of the Lord.”

[22:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “and walked in all the way of David his father.”

[22:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “with these orders, saying.”

[22:4]  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.

[22:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “doers of the work.”

[22:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “and let them give it to the doers of the work who are in the house of the Lord to repair the damages to the house.”

[22:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “and to buy wood and chiseled stone to repair the house.”

[22:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “only the silver that is given into their hand should not be reckoned with them, for in faithfulness they are acting.”

[22:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “returned the king a word and said.”

[22:9]  ¹² tn Heb “that was found in the house.”