Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
2 Chronicles 34:33

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

The final reform (34:1-35:27)

Another reform swept Judah during the reign of Josiah (34:1-33; see notes on 2 Kings 22:1-20). As with the reform of Hezekiah, the climax in the eyes of the Chronicler was a great Passover Feast in Jerusalem.

After returning the ark to its rightful place in the temple, the priests and Levites prepared themselves for their duties. Josiah arranged them in divisions as Hezekiah had done earlier, so that the music, singing, sacrifices and other rituals could be conducted properly. The king, his governors and the leading Levites generously provided the sacrificial animals needed by the people for the occasion. The whole festival was even more spectacular than that of Hezekiah’s time (35:1-19; see notes on 2 Kings 23:21-27). Sadly, Josiah was killed in battle at only thirty-nine years of age (20-27; see notes on 2 Kings 23:28-30).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

JOSIAH TURNS ISRAEL TO THE WORSHIP OF JEHOVAH

"Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. And the king went up to the house of Jehovah, and all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people, both great and small: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of Jehovah. And the king stood in his place, and made a covenant before Jehovah, to walk after Jehovah, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book. And he caused all that were found in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of Israel, and made all that were found in Israel to serve, even to serve Jehovah their God. All his days they departed not from following Jehovah, the God of their fathers."

The big thing here is the testimony of the prophetess Huldah. No believer in God and the inspiration of his holy prophets should allow any evil, unbelieving critic the privilege of imposing his godless opinion regarding what that book really was upon Christians in contradiction of the words of the prophetess Huldah. Of course, the evil critics make out the Chronicler in these chapters to have been an unqualified liar; but this writer insists that that allegation is itself the Big Lie and that it should be rejected by every thoughtful person.

Oh, but isn't it "uncharitable" to suggest that any alleged scholar is a liar? To which we reply, "THEY ARE THE ONES WHO DECLARE THAT WE ARE HERE DEALING WITH A LIE, and this writer believes the liars are not the authors of the Bible but those who contradict it"! Our only difference with them is in identifying the liar!

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

All his days they departed not - This must be understood in the letter rather than in the spirit. There was no open idolatry in the reign of Josiah, but the reformation was seeming rather than real, superficial rather than searching and complete (compare the marginal reference).

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 34

Josiah was only eight years old when he began to reign, he reigned in Jerusalem for thirty-one years ( 2 Chronicles 34:1 ).

Josiah instituted reformations.

In the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, [which means he was sixteen years old] he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images ( 2 Chronicles 34:3 ).

So eight years old when he started to reign. By the time he was sixteen, he started seeking the Lord. By the time he was twenty, he began to purge the land of the false images. When he was twenty-one years old, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet. And so now you're into the period of Jeremiah. For in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah, the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah the prophet, calling Jeremiah. So Jeremiah was about seventeen years old when the word of the Lord came to him. So it means that he was about four years difference between Jeremiah and Josiah this king. And Josiah did institute spiritual reforms among the people.

And yet, Jeremiah the prophet of God at this time could see that the spiritual reforms were only surface reforms. It was only because the king was serving God that the people followed, but not with their whole heart. And Jeremiah cried out against the superficiality of their conversion and of their worship of God, declaring that they had only turned in a surface way but not with all of their hearts to the Lord. So Jeremiah, if you can remember now, this period of history when you get to Jeremiah, you'll really understand the prophecy of Jeremiah so much better, because Jeremiah began his prophecy right at this point. The purging of Jerusalem, the re-establishing of the temple worship and so forth by Josiah, that's when Jeremiah began his period of prophecy and he prophesied through the rest of the history of the nation prior to the Babylonian captivity. So from II Chronicles here on is the period of Jeremiah's ministry.

So he broke down the altars of Baalim; the images, he cut down the groves. He burnt the bones of the priests and their altars. And so he did up in the cities of the north, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali. And when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem ( 2 Chronicles 34:4-7 ).

They began the repairing of the temple in the eighteenth year of his reign after he had purged the land. Jeremiah now had been prophesying for five years. They sent out a message to prepare the temple. They hired the workmen to come in and they began to restore the building that had fallen into great disrepair under his father Amon and his grandfather Manasseh.

Now as they were cleaning out the temple, they found a book of the law of the Lord. One of the scrolls upon which the law of God was written and the priest brought it out to Josiah and he began to read to him out of this scroll. And as he read to him, and of course, no doubt the portion of Deuteronomy really got to him where God pronounced the curses that would come upon the people should they turn away from God. And Josiah cried out and he said, "Oh, this is terrible." He realized that because of the iniquity and the sin of these people who had been called by God to be a special people and because of their failure that these are the curses God said that I will bring upon the land. And so when they read this scroll to Josiah, it came to pass when he heard the words that he tore his clothes and he said,

Inquire of the LORD for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD, to do all that is written in this book. And so they came to Huldah the prophetess, (who was there in the college of prophets in Jerusalem;) ( 2 Chronicles 34:21-22 )

And she said, yes, the nation was going to fall but that it would not fall during the reign of Josiah because of his righteousness and turning unto the Lord. And so he was promised that he would be brought to the grave in peace. So then he had the law of the Lord read to the people. And he read in their ears all of the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord.

And the king stood in his place, and he made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all of his heart, and with all of his soul, and to perform the words of the covenant which are written in the book. And Josiah took away all of the abominations out of the countries that pertained to the children of Israel, and he made all that were present in Israel to serve, even to serve the LORD their God. And all his days they departed not from following the LORD, the God of their fathers ( 2 Chronicles 34:31 , 2 Chronicles 34:33 ).

And then he instituted a tremendous Passover that even superseded that of his great grandfather's Hezekiah. In fact, there was no Passover in all of the land as great as this one since the time of Samuel. Now in Hezekiah, he had the biggest ones from Solomon, but Josiah even superseded those of Solomon, David's period, nothing like this since the time of Samuel.

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Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

1. Josiah’s reforms ch. 34

The godly in Judah may have regarded Josiah as the most likely candidate to fulfill the promises God had given to David. His early life and reign were spiritually exemplary (2 Chronicles 34:2-3). He sought to purge idolatry from the whole territory of Israel as well as Judah (2 Chronicles 34:4-7). Many of the Simeonites (2 Chronicles 34:6) had allied themselves with Israel religiously (cf. 2 Chronicles 15:9). [Note: Keil, p. 431.]

In Jerusalem, Josiah embarked on a renovation of the temple because Manasseh and Amon had abused it (2 Chronicles 34:8-13). The "book of the law" that Hilkiah found (2 Chronicles 34:14) may have been the Book of Deuteronomy, [Note: See Dillard, 2 Chronicles, p. 280, for seven supporting reasons.] another portion of the Pentateuch, or the whole Pentateuch. [Note: Payne, "Second Chronicles," p. 418.] Most scholars believe the book found was Deuteronomy.

It may be hard for us to understand how the people could have lost the Law of Moses and how they could have forgotten it in just two generations. However, written copies were scarce. Moreover, parents and the Levites conducted most instruction orally (2 Chronicles 17:9). Only one generation separated the people from ignorance of God’s will (cf. Deuteronomy 6:6-7; Deuteronomy 17:18). This has been true throughout history. Josiah’s response to the reading of Torah (the Law) shows his heart to please God (2 Chronicles 34:19; 2 Chronicles 34:27).

Huldah announced that God had decreed captivity for Judah (2 Chronicles 34:25). Nevertheless, Josiah would experience mercy because of his tender heart and humility (2 Chronicles 34:27). He would die before Judah went into captivity (2 Chronicles 34:28). Another view of the prediction that he would die in peace is that it refers to what would have happened if Josiah had not violated the will of God by engaging Neco in battle. [Note: See McConville, p. 264.]

The announcement of God’s coming judgment led the king and the nation to commit anew to follow God’s Word (2 Chronicles 34:29-33). Perhaps He would postpone captivity.

The temple had been the protector of the Law (2 Chronicles 34:14), as it had earlier protected David’s heir, Joash (2 Chronicles 22:10-12). It had preserved the two foundational elements in Israel’s life: God’s Word and God’s vice-regent. As mentioned before, the temple represented God. The preservation of these two essential elements was an act of Israel’s faithful God. Concern for the things of God resulted in the discovery of God’s will (cf. 2 Chronicles 7:14).

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that [pertained] to the children of Israel,.... All their idols, as related in 2 Kings 23:4, c.

and made all that were present in Israel to serve, even to serve the Lord their God by his edicts, and by his example:

and all his days they departed not from following the Lord God of their fathers; not publicly and universally; otherwise there were great declensions and corruptions among them, as the prophecies of Jeremiah and Zephaniah show.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      29 Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.   30 And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people, great and small: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of the LORD.   31 And the king stood in his place, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book.   32 And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.   33 And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of Israel, and made all that were present in Israel to serve, even to serve the LORD their God. And all his days they departed not from following the LORD, the God of their fathers.

      We have here an account of the further advances which Josiah made towards the reformation of his kingdom upon the hearing of the law read and the receipt of the message God sent him by the prophetess. Happy the people that had such a king; for here we find that, 1. They were well taught. He did not go about to force them to do their duty, till he had first instructed them in it. He called all the people together, great and small, young and old, rich and poor, high and low. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear the words of the book of the covenant; for they are all concerned in those words. To put an honour upon the service, and to engage attention the more, though there were priests and Levites present, the king himself read the book to the people (2 Chronicles 34:30; 2 Chronicles 34:30), and he read it, no doubt, in such a manner as to show that he was himself affected with it, which would be a means of affecting the hearers. 2. They were well fixed. The articles of agreement between God and Israel being read, that they might intelligently covenant with God, both king and people with great solemnity did as it were subscribe the articles. The king in his place covenanted to keep God's commandments with all his heart and soul, according to what was written in the book (2 Chronicles 34:31; 2 Chronicles 34:31), and urged the people to declare their consent likewise to this covenant, and solemnly to promise that they would faithfully perform, fulfil, and keep, all and every thing that was on their part to be done, according to this covenant: this they did; they could not for shame do otherwise. He caused all that were present to stand to it (2 Chronicles 34:32; 2 Chronicles 34:32), and made them all to serve, even to serve the Lord their God (2 Chronicles 34:33; 2 Chronicles 34:33), to do it and to make a business of it. He did all he could to bring them to it--to serve, even to serve; the repetition denotes that this was the only thing his heart was set on; he aimed at nothing else in what he did but to engage them to God and their duty. 3. They were well tended, were honest with good looking to. All his days they departed not from following the Lord; he kept them, with much ado, from running into idolatry again. All his days were days of restraint upon them; but this intimated that there was in them a bent to backslide, a strong inclination to idolatry. Many of them wanted nothing but to have him out of the way, and then they would have their high places and their images up again. And therefore we find that in the days of Josiah (Jeremiah 3:6) God charged it upon treacherous Judah that she had not returned to him with all her heart, but feignedly (2 Chronicles 34:10; 2 Chronicles 34:10), nay, had played the harlot (2 Chronicles 34:8; 2 Chronicles 34:8) and thereby had even justified backsliding Israel,2 Chronicles 34:11; 2 Chronicles 34:11. In the twenty-third year of this reign, four or five years after this, they had gone on to provoke God to anger with the works of their hands (Jeremiah 25:3-7); and, which is very observable, it is from the beginning of Josiah's reformation, his twelfth or thirteenth year, that the iniquity of the house of Judah, which brought ruin upon them, and which the prophet was to bear lying on his right side, was dated (Ezekiel 4:6), for thence to the destruction of Jerusalem was just forty years. Josiah was sincere in what he did, but the generality of the people were averse to it and hankered after their idols still; so that the reformation, though well designed and well prosecuted by the prince, had little or no effect upon the people. It was with reluctancy that they parted with their idols; still they were in heart joined to them, and wished for them again. This God saw, and therefore from that time, when one would have thought the foundations had been laid for a perpetual security and peace, from that very time did the decree go forth for their destruction. Nothing hastens the ruin of a people nor ripens them for it more than the baffling of hopeful attempts for reformation and a hypocritical return to God. Be not deceived, God is not mocked.