2 Raja-raja 22:18-20

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 ¹  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. ²  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. ³  You will not have to witness ⁴  all the disaster I will bring on this place.’”’” Then they reported back to the king.

2 Raja-raja 23:24-27

23:24 Josiah also got rid of ⁵  the ritual pits used to conjure up spirits, ⁶  the magicians, personal idols, disgusting images, ⁷  and all the detestable idols that had appeared in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem. In this way he carried out the terms of the law ⁸  recorded on the scroll that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the Lord’s temple. 23:25 No king before or after repented before the Lord as he did, with his whole heart, soul, and being in accordance with the whole law of Moses. ⁹ 

23:26 Yet the Lord’s great anger against Judah did not subside; he was still infuriated by all the things Manasseh had done. ¹⁰  23:27 The Lord announced, “I will also spurn Judah, ¹¹  just as I spurned Israel. I will reject this city that I chose – both Jerusalem and the temple, about which I said, “I will live there.” ¹² 

[22:19]  ¹ tn Heb “Because your heart was tender.”

[22:19]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “Therefore, look, I am gathering you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your tomb in peace.”

[22:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “your eyes will not see.”

[23:24]  ⁵ tn Here בִּעֵר (bi’er) is not the well attested verb “burn,” but the less common homonym meaning “devastate, sweep away, remove.” See HALOT 146 s.v. בער.

[23:24]  ⁶ sn See the note at 2 Kgs 21:6.

[23:24]  ⁷ sn See the note at 1 Kgs 15:12.

[23:24]  ⁸ tn Heb “carrying out the words of the law.”

[23:25]  ⁹ tn Heb “and like him there was not a king before him who returned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his being according to all the law of Moses, and after him none arose like him.”

[23:25]  sn The description of Josiah’s devotion as involving his whole “heart, soul, and being” echoes the language of Deut 6:5.

[23:26]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Yet the Lord did not turn away from the fury of his great anger, which raged against Judah, on account of all the infuriating things by which Manasseh had made him angry.”

[23:27]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Also Judah I will turn away from my face.”

[23:27]  ¹² tn Heb “My name will be there.”