34Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign; and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem. 2And he did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left. 3For in the eighth year of his
xxii. 2). In the eighteenth year of his reign he is said to have ordered a repair of the Temple in the course of which a discovery was made of a book of the Law. In consequence of its injunctions a thorough reformation was carried out by Josiah, a solemn covenant with God being entered into by the king and all the people, and attested first by a crusade against all idolatrous images and symbols throughout the land and then by a grand celebration of the Passover feast (2 Kin. xxii. 3—xxiii. 27). Obviously Josiah was a king after the Chronicler's own heart. He makes Josiah's reforming energy begin as early as his eighth year, causing some changes in the order of events (see the note on ver. 3). On the record of the Passover feast the Chronicler has naturally fastened with special pleasure, and he expands the brief allusions to it in Kings into a detailed account occupying xxxv. 1—19. His narrative of the death of Josiah differs considerably from that in Kings. Several other minor variations are pointed out in the notes below.
1. in Jerusalem] Here the Chronicler omits the name of Josiah's mother; cp. xxxiii. 1, 21.
2. turned not aside, etc.] A commendatory phrase applied to Josiah alone of the kings.
3—7 (cp. ver. 33; 2 Kin. xxiii. 4—20). Josiah destroys the Symbols of Idolatry.
3. in the eighth year . . . and in the twelfth] It should be noticed that the order of the events of Josiah's reign given in Chron. varies from that given in 2 Kin. Thus we have in 2 Chr.:
(1) Destruction of idolatrous symbols throughout Jerusalem, Judah and Israel; xxxiv. 3—7.
(2) Repair of the Temple and Finding of the Law; ib. 8—28.
(3) Renewal of the Covenant with Jehovah; ib. 29—33.
(4) Great Passover kept; xxxv. 1—19.
(5) Death of Josiah; ib. 20—27.
In 2 Kin. on the other hand (2) and (3) precede (1), and the reforming activity of the king is accordingly placed subsequent to the finding of the Law in the eighteenth year of his reign. There can be little doubt that the order in Kin. is correct. The Chronicler thought it desirable that the piety of the king should be displayed earlier, and he has therefore dated its commencement from the eighth and twelfth years. [This
