Josiah Josiah Insomnia (novel) Category="609 BC deaths"Category="Kings of ancient Judah"Josiah or Yoshiyahu (ּוהָּיִׁשאֹי "supported of the LORD", Standard Hebrew Yošiyyáhu, Tiberian Hebrew Yôšiyyāhû) was king of Judah, and son of Amon and Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. He is credited by some historians with having established Jewish scripture in written form as a part of the Deuteronomic reform that occurred during his rule.

William F. Albright has dated his reign to 640 BC-609 BC, while E. R. Thiele offers the dates 641 BC-609 BC. The chief sources of his reign are 2 Kings 22-23, and 2 Chronicles 34-35; 1 Esdras 1 is clearly a copy of the relevant portion of 2 Chronicles. Archaeologists have recovered a number of "scroll-style" stamps dating to his reign.

Judah's condition at his accession

When Josiah was placed on the throne of Judah at the age of eight by the "People of the Land", the international situation was in flux: to the east, the Assyrian Empire was in the beginning stages of its eventual disintegration, the Babylonian Empire had not yet risen to replace it, and Egypt to the west was still recovering from Assyrian rule. This favored the resurgence of the prowess of Jerusalem, which Josiah expressed in the 8th year of rule by his sincere championing of the God of Israel's cause. He had the foreign cultic objects of Baal, Ashterah, "and all the hosts of the heavens" in Solomon's Temple destroyed, the living pagan priests dismissed from their posts and the bones of the priests exhumed from their graves and burned on their altars -- an extreme act of desecration against these pagan deities. (2 Kings 23:4, et seq.) The authors of Kings and Chronicles add to these acts in Jerusalem Josiah's similar destruction of altars and images belonging to pagan deities in the cities of the tribes of Manasseh, Ephraim, "and Simeon, as far as Naphtali" (2 Kings 23:8f);(2 Chr. 34:6f).

In his 18th Regnal year, Josiah again worked on behalf of Yahweh by having the High Priest Hilkiah take the tax monies that had been collected over the years, and use them to repair the neglect and damage the Temple had suffered during the reigns of Amon and Manasseh.

Deuteronomic reform

While Hilkiah was clearing the treasure room of the Temple (2 Chr. 34:14), he is said to have found a scroll described as "the book, book of the Torah"/"רפסה רפס הרותה" (Kings 22:8) or as "the book of the Torah of YHVH by the hand of Moses" (2 Chr. 34:14). Following De Wette's suggestion in 1805, many scholars have assumed this was either a copy of the Book of Deuteronomy, or a text that became Deuteronomy as we have it. Hilkiah brought this scroll to Josiah's attention, and the king had it read to a crowd in Jerusalem. He was praised for this piety by the prophetess Huldah, who made the prophecy that all involved would die peacefully (2 Kings 22:14-20; 2 Chr. 34:22-28). The fact this scroll was found during the restoration work is not unusual; the finding of old scrolls or inscriptions while making repairs to temples is an attested occurrence in the ancient Near East. Some scholars have also theorized that the book was actually assembled to help centralize power under Josiah. The book was said to be an ancient "scroll of the Teaching [found] in the House of the Lord." (2 Kings 22:8) as a way to validate its authority.

In that same 18th year, he celebrated a Passover that had not been done in such a manner "since the days of the Judges" (lit.: "For it had not been done, like this Pesach, from the days of the Judges who judged Israel . . .") (2 Kings 23:22). 2 Chr. 35:1-19 provides the most complete description of the celebration.

Assertion of control over Israel

At some point between this year and his death, Josiah reasserted Judean control in the former territories of the Kingdom of Israel, which is recorded in 2 Kings as systematically destroying the cultic objects in various cities, as well as executing the priests of the pagan gods. The only exception he made 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 (23:15-19).

Josiah's death

There are two versions of Josiah's violent death. The author of Kings tersely remarks that Necho II met Josiah at Megiddo, and killed him the moment the Egyptian king laid eyes on him (22:29f). See Battle of Megiddo (609 BC). The author of Chronicles describes Josiah meeting Necho in battle at Megiddo, where Josiah was fatally wounded by Egyptian archers, and was brought back to Jerusalem to die. Some scholars favor the account in Chronicles, because it better fits with what is known of international events. Necho had left Egypt around 609 BC for two reasons: one was to relieve the Babylonian siege of Harran, and the other was to help the king of Assyria, who was defeated by the Babylonians at the Battle of Carchemish. Josiah's actions suggest that he was aiding the Babylonians by engaging the Egyptian army.

In either case, the death of this king was a serious blow to his country, as shown by the fact Jeremiah wrote a lament for Josiah's passing which has not survived.

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Preceded by:
Amon		King of JudahSucceeded by:
Jehoahaz