Josiah Restores the Ancient Customs
The Bible contains two different accounts of King Josiah's reforms. These are found in 2 Kings 22-23, and 2 Chronicles 34-35. The two versions are on the whole similar, at least in the beginning, however, Chronicles adds an additional story that is only alluded to in the earlier account, and which is not described in detail. The basic intent of both tales is to hold up the actions of Josiah as worthy of praise. He is depicted as a great reformer, a king who restored the true traditions of Israel, and who faithfully followed the precepts of God ... once he had learned about them. It is clearly implied that, in some sense, Josiah will be punished for his having been brought up incorrectly, in a state of sin as it were, but at the same time, he will be rewarded for having rediscovered the commandments that the Lord gave to Moses. Josiah had ordered some construction work to be done at the Temple when his workmen found a book that had been kept in the Temple since the beginning. It accurately chronicled God's commandments, and when this book was read out to Josiah, he realized at once how in error the Israelites truly were. Immediately, he ordered a general purge of all the pagan customs, and of all the individuals that had served the pagan gods. These individuals were killed, and their bodies burnt along with their idols, and their altars, and so forth. Josiah purified the Temple and took an oath before God, and before the People of Israel, to keep the Commandments of the Lord.
Both versions of this account contain essentially this same story, yet the version in Chronicles adds a second story concerning the keeping of the Passover. Though mentioned in the version in 2 Kings, the Passover celebrated by Josiah is not described in any way. There are two obvious reasons for these differences, both of which are derived from the Chronicler's purpose in relating the events of Josiah's reign. From the additions made by the recorder of the story in 2 Chronicles one can conclude that not only had pagan customs been allowed to re-emerge since the time of Josiah, but even the manner in...
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