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Josiah (; ) entry "Josiah"] Dictionary.com. Retrieved 25 July 2011 or Yoshiyahu () was the 16th king of Judah (–609 BCE). Described as "one of Judah’s most important kings," his reign likely marked a turning point in the development of Yahwism. (2026). 9780367744250, Routledge. ISBN 9780367744250
According to the Hebrew Bible, Josiah ascended to the throne of the southern Kingdom of Judah at the age of eight following the assassination of his father, King Amon.Edwin Thiele, The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings, (1st ed.; New York: Macmillan, 1951; 2d ed.; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965; 3rd ed.; Grand Rapids: Zondervan/Kregel, 1983). , 9780825438257, 217. He reigned for 31 years, during which he expanded Judah and initiated major religious reforms, centralizing worship in Jerusalem and eliminating the worship of foreign gods.
According to the Hebrew Bible, Josiah's religious reforms began in his eighteenth year as king when the 'Book of the Law' (likely an early version of the Book of Deuteronomy) was discovered during repairs to the Temple, and the prophetess Huldah confirmed its authenticity. Following this discovery, Josiah destroyed idols, , and Asherah pole and purged Judah of false priests, mediums, and magicians. His reforms also extended into the territory that had once been part of the northern Kingdom of Israel, which had been absorbed into the Assyrian Empire. Josiah's reforms were not purely religious; they were also politically motivated. By centralizing worship at the Jerusalem Temple and eliminating smaller shrines and high places, Josiah gained control over the offerings and dues previously managed by local cultic centers. Scholars argue that he sought to revive a united kingdom.
The biblical account of Josiah's reforms, especially the removal of idol worship and the destruction of high places, has traditionally been considered historically accurate. However, the accuracy of these descriptions is now widely debated among scholars. Despite no direct reference to Josiah in other contemporary texts from Egypt or Babylon, and no inscriptions bearing his name, a seal bearing the name "Nathan-melech," an official under Josiah mentioned in , was discovered in situ in an archeological site in Jerusalem. This seal provides some archaeological support for the biblical account. Most scholars, however, agree on Josiah's historical existence. (2026). 9780190285289, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190285289
The influence of Josiah’s reign is evident in the Deuteronomist, a collection of biblical texts that evaluate the reigns of Israelite and Judahite kings based on their adherence to the laws of Deuteronomy. Josiah is depicted as the most righteous king in this tradition, the only one to fully implement the reforms outlined in the "Book of the Law." His death in 609 BCE during a confrontation with Pharaoh Necho II of Late Egypt set the stage for the decline of the kingdom.
According to 1 Chronicles 3:15, 2 Kings 23:31 and 36, 2 Kings 24:18, Josiah had four sons: Johanan and Eliakim (born c. 634 BCE), whose mother was Zebidah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Ruma; and Shallum (633/632 BCE) and Mattanyahu (c. 618 BCE), whose mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. Eliakim had his name changed by the Saïte pharaoh Necho II to Jehoiakim according to 2 Kings 23:34.
Shallum, his third son, succeeded Josiah as Jehoahaz according to 1 Chronicles 3:15 and Jeremiah 22:11. Eliakim succeeded Shallum as Jehoiakim in 2 Chronicles 36:4, and he was succeeded by his son Jeconiah in 2 Chronicles 36:8. Jeconiah was succeeded to the throne by his uncle Mattanyahu, under the name Zedekiah in 2 Kings 24:17. Zedekiah was the last king of Judah before the kingdom was conquered by the Neo-Babylonian Empire and the Babylonian captivity began.
Josiah ordered Hilkiah, the High Priest, to use the tax money collected over the years to renovate the Temple. While Hilkiah was clearing the treasure room of the Temple, he allegedly discovered a scroll described in 2 Kings 22:8 as "a scroll of the Teaching" and in 2 Chronicles 34:14 as "the book of the Law of the LORD given by Moses". The phrase "scroll of the Teaching" () in 2 Kings 22:8 is identical to the phrase used in Joshua 1:8 and 8:34 to describe the sacred writings Joshua had received from Moses. The book is not identified in the text and many scholars believe this was either a copy of the Book of Deuteronomy or a text that became a part of Deuteronomy.Sweeney, Marvin A. (2001), King Josiah of Judah, Oxford University Press, p.137. .
The story of the Temple restoration is based on those ordered by an earlier Judean king, Joash in 2 Kings 12, who ruled c. 836 – 796 BCE .Encyclopaedia Judaica (second edition, vol 11) pg. 459.
Hilkiah brought this scroll to Josiah's attention. Josiah consulted the prophetess Huldah, who assured him that the evil foretold in the document for non-observance of its instructions, would come, but not in his day; "because", she said, "thine heart was tender and thou didst humble thyself before the Lord". An assembly of the elders of Judah and Jerusalem and of all the people was called, and Josiah then encouraged the exclusive worship of Yahweh, forbidding all other forms of worship. The instruments and emblems of the worship of Baal and "heavenly host" were removed from the Temple in Jerusalem. Local sanctuaries, known as , were destroyed from Beersheba in the south to Bethel and the cities of Samaria in the north. Josiah had pagan priests executed and even had the bones of the dead priests of Bethel exhumed from their graves and burned on their altars. Josiah also reinstituted Passover celebrations.
According to an unnamed "man of God" (sometimes identified as Iddo) had prophesied to King Jeroboam of the northern Kingdom of Israel (Samaria), approximately three hundred years earlier, that "a son named Josiah will be born to the house of David" and that he would destroy the altar at Bethel. And the only exception to this destruction was for the grave of an unnamed prophet he found in Bethel (), who had foretold that these religious sites Jeroboam erected would one day be destroyed (see ). Josiah ordered the double grave of the "man of God" and of the Bethel prophet to be left alone, as these prophecies had come true.
Josiah's reforms are described in two biblical accounts, 2 Kings 22–23, and 2 Chronicles 34–35. They began with the ending of ancient Israelite religious practices, and the astral cults that had become popular in the 8th century, and led to centralisation of worship in Jerusalem, and the destruction of the temple at Bethel. Encyclopaedia Judaica, second edition, vol 11, pg 459 Some scholars have rejected the entire historicity of these accounts, (2026). 9783110223576, De Gruyter. ISBN 9783110223576Grabbe, Lester (2017). Ancient Israel: What Do We Know and How Do We Know It?. T&T Clark. p. 249-250. “We have no direct evidence outside the biblical text, which makes us at least ask whether it is an invention of the Deuteronomist. The alleged absence of any reference to this reform in Jeremiah has always been a major puzzle. Some have found allusions here and there, but one has to admit that they are surprisingly obscure. Considering Jeremiah’s overall message and position, he should have embraced such a reform and made copious comments about it.” while others have defended the historical existence of a religious reform under Josiah's reign.
According to the later account in 2 Chronicles, Josiah destroyed altars and images of Pagan god in cities of the tribes of Manasseh, Ephraim, "and Simeon, as far as Naphtali" (), which were outside of his kingdom, Judah, and returned the Ark of the Covenant to the Temple.
For much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, it was widely accepted among biblical scholars that this "Book of the Law" was an early version of the Book of Deuteronomy, but recent scholarship views it as a largely legendary narrative of one of the earliest stages in the creation of the Deuteronomistic work. "The Book of Josiah's Reform", Bible.org. Retrieved 24 July 2011. William G. Dever, for example, argues that the Book of the Law was actually composed by orthodox Yahwist priests, who attributed it to the legendary figure of Moses and then hid it in the Temple, where it would be dramatically discovered; in this way, a "miraculous new Word from Yahweh" would seem to have appeared, giving Judah a chance to redeem itself and save itself from the advance of the Neo-Babylonian Empire.
Many scholars view the entire core narrative, from Joshua to 2 Kings, as a Deuteronomistic History (DtrH) written during Josiah's reign.Friedman 1987Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman, The Bible Unearthed: Archeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of its Sacred Texts, Touchstone, New York, 2002 In fact, some recent European theologians even go so far as to posit that most of the Torah and Deuteronomistic History was composed and finalized several centuries later, during the Yehud Medinata.Konrad Schmid, "The Persian Imperial Authorization as a Historical Problem and as a Biblical Construct," in G.N. Knoppers and B.M. Levison (eds.): The Pentateuch as Torah: New Models for Understanding its Promulgation and Acceptance, Eisenbrauns 2007 However, biblical scholars are coming to believe that the Deuteronomistic History was composed using other earlier sources, including a brief chronicle of king's names, age at the beginning of their reign, and their mother's names.
The prophetic activity of Jeremiah began in the reign of Josiah; he was a contemporary of his relative the prophetess Hulda and of his teacher Zephaniah.compare Maimonides in the introduction to "Yad"; in Lamentations Rabbah 1:18 Isaiah is mentioned as Jeremiah's teacher These three prophets divided their activity: Hulda spoke to the women and Jeremiah to the men in the street, while Zephaniah preached in the synagogue.Pesiḳta Rabbah l.c. When Josiah restored the true worship, Jeremiah went to the exiled ten tribes, whom he brought to Israel under the rule of the pious king.'Arachin 33a Although Josiah went to war with Egypt against the prophet's advice, Jeremiah knew that this was an error by the otherwise pious king;Lamentations Rabbah l.c. and later he bitterly laments the king's death: the fourth chapter of Lamentations beginning with a dirge on Josiah.Lamentations Rabbah 4:1; Targum II Chron. 35:25
King Josiah, who foresaw the impending national catastrophe, concealed the Ark and its contents (including Aaron's rod, the vial of manna and the anointing oil) within a hidden chamber which had been built by Solomon] (Tosefta, Sotah, 13a); cf. Babylonian Talmud ( Kereithot 5b) and their whereabouts will remain unknown until, in the Messianic age, the prophet Elijah shall reveal them (Mekhilta l.c.).
In the spring of 609 BCE, Pharaoh Necho II led a sizable army up to the Euphrates River to aid the Neo-Assyrian Empire, which was collapsing under the attacks of the Medes and the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Taking the coast route Via Maris into Syria at the head of a large army, consisting mainly of mercenaries; and supported by his Mediterranean fleet along the shore, Necho passed the low tracts of Philistia and Sharon plain. However, the passage over the ridge of hills which shuts in on the south of the great Jezreel Valley was blocked by the Judean army led by Josiah. The reason for Josiah attempting to halt the Egyptian campaign is not known, but he may have considered that the Assyrians and Egyptians were weakened by the death of pharaoh Psamtik I only a year earlier (610 BCE): Psamtik having been appointed and confirmed by Assyrian kings Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal. According to the Biblical Books of Chronicles, Necho had not intended to do battle with the Judeans and was confused by Josiah's decision to attack him, supposedly sending a letter saying "what have we done to each other, king of Judah? I am not coming against you this day."
Josiah attempted to block the advance at Megiddo, where a fierce battle was fought and Josiah was killed.Sweeney, Marvin A. King Josiah of Judah, Oxford University Press, 2001, p. 309. Necho then joined forces with the Assyrian Ashur-uballit II and crossed the Euphrates to lay siege to Harran. The combined forces failed to capture the city, and Necho retreated to northern Syria.
The account in Chronicles is considered unreliable by some scholars,Talshir, Zipora, " The Three Deaths of Josiah and the Strata of Biblical Historiography" (2 Kings XXIII 29–30; 2 Chronicles XXXV 20-5; 1 Esdras I 23–31), Vetus Testamentum XLVI, 2, 1996 as it is based on the description of the death of a different king, Ahab, in 1 Kings, and it meets the Chronicler's religious agenda to attribute the death of a righteous king to some form of sin. Encyclopaedia Judaica, second edition, vol. 11, pg 458–459
Some researchers have concluded from the account in Kings that Josiah did not meet Necho in battle but was summoned by Necho as a vassal, investigated, and beheaded for failing to pay the correct tribute or tax to Egypt.Kahn, Dan'el, " Why did Necho II kill Josiah?"
Rabbinic literature remarks on Josiah's piety and his father, Amon:
It also states that his death happened because, despite his sincere religious reforms, he had in fact been deceived. He refused to heed Jeremiah, thinking that no sword would pass through Judah. He was struck by 300 hurled darts; he made no complaint except to acknowledge "The Lord is righteous, for I rebelled against His commandment."
Necho had left Egypt in 609 BCE to relieve the Harran under Babylonian siege. Josiah's actions may have provided aid to the Babylonians by engaging the Egyptian army.
The date of Josiah's death can be established fairly accurately. The Babylonian Chronicles date the battle at Harran between the Assyrians and their Egyptian allies against the Babylonians from Tammuz (July–August) to Elul (August–September) 609 BCE. On that basis, Josiah was killed in the month of Tammuz (July–August) 609 BCE, when the Egyptians were on their way to Harran.Thiele, Mysterious Numbers 182, 184–185.
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