2 Raja-raja 22:1--23:8
Konteks22:1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned for thirty-one years in Jerusalem. 1 His mother 2 was Jedidah, daughter of Adaiah, from Bozkath. 22:2 He did what the Lord approved 3 and followed in his ancestor David’s footsteps; 4 he did not deviate to the right or the left.
22:3 In the eighteenth year of King Josiah’s reign, the king sent the scribe Shaphan son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, to the Lord’s temple with these orders: 5 22:4 “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest and have him melt down 6 the silver that has been brought by the people to the Lord’s temple and has been collected by the guards at the door. 22:5 Have them hand it over to the construction foremen 7 assigned to the Lord’s temple. They in turn should pay the temple workers to repair it, 8 22:6 including craftsmen, builders, and masons, and should buy wood and chiseled stone for the repair work. 9 22:7 Do not audit the foremen who disburse the silver, for they are honest.” 10
22:8 Hilkiah the high priest informed Shaphan the scribe, “I found the law scroll in the Lord’s temple.” Hilkiah gave the scroll to Shaphan and he read it. 22:9 Shaphan the scribe went to the king and reported, 11 “Your servants melted down the silver in the temple 12 and handed it over to the construction foremen assigned to the Lord’s temple.” 22:10 Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a scroll.” Shaphan read it out loud before the king. 22:11 When the king heard the words of the law scroll, he tore his clothes. 22:12 The king ordered Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Acbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king’s servant, 22:13 “Go, seek an oracle from 13 the Lord for me and the people – for all Judah. Find out about 14 the words of this scroll that has been discovered. For the Lord’s fury has been ignited against us, 15 because our ancestors have not obeyed the words of this scroll by doing all that it instructs us to do.” 16
22:14 So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Acbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shullam son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, the supervisor of the wardrobe. 17 (She lived in Jerusalem in the Mishneh 18 district.) They stated their business, 19 22:15 and she said to them: “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘Say this to the man who sent you to me: 22:16 “This is what the Lord says: ‘I am about to bring disaster on this place and its residents, the details of which are recorded in the scroll which the king of Judah has read. 20 22:17 This will happen because they have abandoned me and offered sacrifices 21 to other gods, angering me with all the idols they have made. 22 My anger will ignite against this place and will not be extinguished!’” 22:18 Say this to the king of Judah, who sent you to seek an oracle from the Lord: “This is what the Lord God of Israel says concerning the words you have heard: 22:19 ‘You displayed a sensitive spirit 23 and humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard how I intended to make this place and its residents into an appalling example of an accursed people. 24 You tore your clothes and wept before me, and I have heard you,’ says the Lord. 22:20 ‘Therefore I will allow you to die and be buried in peace. 25 You will not have to witness 26 all the disaster I will bring on this place.’”’” Then they reported back to the king.
23:1 The king summoned all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem. 27 23:2 The king went up to the Lord’s temple, accompanied by all the people of Judah, all the residents of Jerusalem, the priests, and the prophets. All the people were there, from the youngest to the oldest. He read aloud 28 all the words of the scroll of the covenant that had been discovered in the Lord’s temple. 23:3 The king stood by the pillar and renewed 29 the covenant before the Lord, agreeing to follow 30 the Lord and to obey his commandments, laws, and rules with all his heart and being, 31 by carrying out the terms 32 of this covenant recorded on this scroll. All the people agreed to keep the covenant. 33
23:4 The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the high-ranking priests, 34 and the guards 35 to bring out of the Lord’s temple all the items that were used in the worship of 36 Baal, Asherah, and all the stars of the sky. 37 The king 38 burned them outside of Jerusalem in the terraces 39 of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. 40 23:5 He eliminated 41 the pagan priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to offer sacrifices 42 on the high places in the cities of Judah and in the area right around Jerusalem. (They offered sacrifices 43 to Baal, the sun god, the moon god, the constellations, and all the stars in the sky.) 23:6 He removed the Asherah pole from the Lord’s temple and took it outside Jerusalem to the Kidron Valley, where he burned it. 44 He smashed it to dust and then threw the dust in the public graveyard. 45 23:7 He tore down the quarters 46 of the male cultic prostitutes in the Lord’s temple, where women were weaving shrines 47 for Asherah.
23:8 He brought all the priests from the cities of Judah and ruined 48 the high places where the priests had offered sacrifices, from Geba to Beer Sheba. 49 He tore down the high place of the goat idols 50 situated at the entrance of the gate of Joshua, the city official, on the left side of the city gate.
[22:1] 1 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[22:1] 2 tn Heb “the name of his mother.”
[22:2] 3 tn Heb “he did what was proper in the eyes of the
[22:2] 4 tn Heb “and walked in all the way of David his father.”
[22:3] 5 tn Heb “with these orders, saying.”
[22:4] 6 tc The MT has וְיַתֵּם (vÿyattem), “and let them add up” (Hiphil of תָּמָם [tammam], “be complete”), but the appearance of הִתִּיכוּ (hitikhu), “they melted down” (Hiphil of נָתַךְ [natakh], “pour out”) in v. 9 suggests that the verb form should be emended to וְיַתֵּךְ (vÿyattekh), “and let him melt down” (a Hiphil of נָתַךְ [natakh]). For a discussion of this and other options see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 281.
[22:5] 7 tn Heb “doers of the work.”
[22:5] 8 tn Heb “and let them give it to the doers of the work who are in the house of the
[22:6] 9 tn Heb “and to buy wood and chiseled stone to repair the house.”
[22:7] 10 tn Heb “only the silver that is given into their hand should not be reckoned with them, for in faithfulness they are acting.”
[22:9] 11 tn Heb “returned the king a word and said.”
[22:9] 12 tn Heb “that was found in the house.”
[22:13] 13 tn Or “inquire of.”
[22:13] 14 tn Heb “concerning.”
[22:13] 15 tn Heb “for great is the anger of the
[22:13] 16 tn Heb “by doing all that is written concerning us.” Perhaps עָלֵינוּ (’alenu), “concerning us,” should be altered to עָלָיו (’alav), “upon it,” in which case one could translate, “by doing all that is written in it.”
[22:14] 17 tn Heb “the keeper of the clothes.”
[22:14] 18 tn Or “second.” For a discussion of the possible location of this district, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 283.
[22:14] 19 tn Heb “and they spoke to her.”
[22:16] 20 tn Heb “all the words of the scroll which the king of Judah has read.”
[22:17] 21 tn Or “burned incense.”
[22:17] 22 tn Heb “angering me with all the work of their hands.” The translation assumes that this refers to idols they have manufactured (note the preceding reference to “other gods,” as well as 19:18). However, it is possible that this is a general reference to their sinful practices, in which case one might translate, “angering me by all the things they do.”
[22:19] 23 tn Heb “Because your heart was tender.”
[22:19] 24 tn Heb “how I said concerning this place and its residents to become [an object of] horror and [an example of] a curse.” The final phrase (“horror and a curse”) refers to Judah becoming a prime example of an accursed people. In curse formulations they would be held up as a prime example of divine judgment. For an example of such a curse, see Jer 29:22.
[22:20] 25 tn Heb “Therefore, look, I am gathering you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your tomb in peace.”
[22:20] 26 tn Heb “your eyes will not see.”
[23:1] 27 tn Heb “and the king sent and all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem gathered to him.”
[23:1] map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[23:2] 28 tn Heb “read in their ears.”
[23:3] 29 tn Heb “cut,” that is, “made, agreed to.”
[23:3] 30 tn Heb “walk after.”
[23:3] 33 tn Heb “stood in the covenant.”
[23:4] 34 tn Heb “the priests of the second [rank],” that is, those ranked just beneath Hilkiah.
[23:4] 35 tn Or “doorkeepers.”
[23:4] 37 tn Heb “all the host of heaven” (also in v. 5).
[23:4] 38 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[23:4] 39 tn Or “fields.” For a defense of the translation “terraces,” see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 285.
[23:4] 40 map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.
[23:5] 41 tn Perhaps, “destroyed.”
[23:5] 42 tn Or “burn incense.”
[23:5] 43 tn Or “burned incense.”
[23:6] 44 tn Heb “and he burned it in the Kidron Valley.”
[23:6] 45 tc Heb “on the grave of the sons of the people.” Some Hebrew, Greek, Syriac, Aramaic, and Latin witnesses read the plural “graves.”
[23:6] tn The phrase “sons of the people” refers here to the common people (see BDB 766 s.v. עַם), as opposed to the upper classes who would have private tombs.
[23:7] 46 tn Or “cubicles.” Heb “houses.”
[23:7] 47 tn Heb “houses.” Perhaps tent-shrines made from cloth are in view (see BDB 109 s.v. בַּיִת). M. Cogan and H. Tadmor (II Kings [AB], 286) understand this as referring to clothes made for images of the goddess.
[23:8] 48 tn Heb “defiled; desecrated,” that is, “made ritually unclean and unusable.”
[23:8] 49 sn These towns marked Judah’s northern and southern borders, respectively, at the time of Josiah.
[23:8] 50 tc The Hebrew text reads “the high places of the gates,” which is problematic in that the rest of the verse speaks of a specific gate. The translation assumes an emendation to בָּמוֹת הַשְּׁעָרִים (bamot hashÿ’arim), “the high place of the goats” (that is, goat idols). Worship of such images is referred to in Lev 17:7 and 2 Chr 11:15. For a discussion of the textual issue, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 286-87.
