Josiah 623231 224543370 2008-07-09T09:39:39Z Hispence 7447035 added link to Édouard Naville {{Kings of Judah}} [[image:josiah.gif|thumb|300px|Josiah listening to the reading of the law by [[Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld]]]] '''Josiah''' or '''Yoshiyahu''' ({{Hebrew Name|יֹאשִׁיָּהוּ|Yošiyyáhu|Yôšiyyāhû|"supported of [[Tetragrammaton|the Lord]]"}}) was king of [[kingdom of Judah|Judah]], and son of [[Amon of Judah|Amon]] and [[Jedidah]], the daughter of [[Adaiah]] of [[Bozkath]]. His grandfather was King [[Manasseh of Judah|Manasseh]], who Josianic sources blame for turning away from the Israelite religion, even adapting the Temple for idolatrous worship. Josiah is credited by some historians with having established Jewish scripture in written form as a part of the Deuteronomic reform that occurred during his rule. [[William F. Albright]] has dated his reign to [[640 BC]]-[[609 BC]], while [[E. R. Thiele]] offers the dates [[641 BC]]-[[609 BC]]. The chief sources of his reign are ''[[Books of Kings|2 Kings]]'' 22-23, and ''[[Books of Chronicles|2 Chronicles]]'' 34-35, and considerable archaeological evidence document conditions in Judah during his reign. (''[[1 Esdras]]'' 1 also discusses Josiah, but is clearly based entirely on the relevant portion of ''2 Chronicles''.) Archaeologists have recovered a number of "scroll-style" stamps dating to his reign. ==Judah's condition at his accession== Josiah was placed on the throne of Judah by the "People of the Land", the international situation was in flux: to the east, the [[Assyria]]n Empire was in the beginning stages of its eventual disintegration, the [[Babylon]]ian Empire had not yet risen to replace it, and [[Egypt]] to the west was still recovering from Assyrian rule. In this power vacuum, [[Jerusalem]] was able to govern itself without foreign intervention. In the 18th year of Josiah's rule he began to encourage the exclusive worship of Yahweh, and he outlawed all other forms of worship. Josiah repressed sodomitic activity (2 ''Kings'' 23:7) and had the foreign cultic objects of [[Baal]], [[Ashterah]] (or [[Asherah]]), "and all the hosts of the heavens" in [[Solomon's Temple]] destroyed. The living pagan priests were killed and the bones of priests exhumed from their graves and burned on their altars -- which was viewed as an extreme act of desecration against these pagan deities by their adherents. (2 ''Kings'' 23:4, et seq.) The authors of ''Kings'' and ''Chronicles'' add to these acts in Jerusalem Josiah's similar destruction of altars and images belonging to pagan deities in the cities of the tribes of [[tribe of Manasseh|Manasseh]], [[tribe of Ephraim|Ephraim]], "and [[tribe of Simeon|Simeon]], as far as [[Naphtali]]" (2 ''Kings'' 23:8f); (2 ''Chr''. 34:6f). He also had the High Priest [[Hilkiah]] take the tax monies that had been collected over the years and use them to repair the neglect and damage the Temple had suffered during the reigns of [[Amon of Judah|Amon]] and [[Manasseh of Judah|Manasseh]]. ==Deuteronomic reform== While Hilkiah was clearing the treasure room of the Temple (2 Chr. 34:14), he reportedly found a scroll described as "a book of the [[Torah]]"/"ספר התורה" (Second Kings 22:8) or as "the book of the Torah of [[YHVH]] by the hand of [[Moses]]" (2 Chr. 34:14). Following [[Wilhelm de Wette|De Wette]]'s suggestion in 1805, many scholars believe this was either a copy of the [[Deuteronomy|Book of Deuteronomy]], or a text that became a part of Deuteronomy as we have it. Hilkiah brought this scroll to Josiah's attention, and the king had it read to a crowd in Jerusalem. He was praised for this piety by the [[prophetess]] [[Huldah]], who made the prophecy that all involved would die without having to see God's judgement on Judah for the sins they had committed in prior generations(''2 Kings'' 22:14-20; 2 Chr. 34:22-28). ==Assertion of control over Israel== At some point between this year and his death, Josiah reasserted [[Judean]] control in the former territories of the [[kingdom of Israel]], which is recorded in ''2 Kings'' as systematically destroying the cultic objects in various cities, as well as executing the priests of the pagan gods. The only exception he made (2 Kings 23:15-19) was for the grave of an unnamed prophet he found in [[Bethel]], who had foretold that these religious sites [[Jeroboam]] erected would one day be destroyed (see 1 Kings 13). ==Josiah's death== There are two versions of Josiah's death. The Book of ''Kings'' tersely remarks that [[Necho II]] met Josiah at [[Megiddo (place)|Megiddo]], and killed him the moment the Egyptian king laid eyes on him ([[2 Kings]] 23:29)- see [[Battle of Megiddo (609 BC)]]. In [[2 Chronicles]] 35:20-27 King Josiah is killed after he attacks King Necho which is in opposition to the will of God. His death is in this way validated. Proponents of DtrH ("Deuteronomistic History") ascribe this portion of the book to a post-Josiahwic redaction. The author of ''Chronicles'' describes Josiah meeting Necho in battle at Megiddo, where Josiah was fatally wounded by Egyptian archers, and was brought back to Jerusalem to die. Some scholars favor the account in ''Chronicles'', because it better fits with what is known of international events. Necho had left Egypt around [[609 BC]] for two reasons: one was to relieve the Babylonian siege of [[Harran]], and the other was to help the king of [[Assyria]], who was defeated by the Babylonians at the [[Battle of Carchemish]]. Josiah's actions suggest that he was aiding the Babylonians by engaging the Egyptian army. In either case, the death of this king was a serious blow to core Judaic beliefs that include the [[God in Judaism|God of Israel]] as being the only true God. Subsequent kings undid Josiah's reforms and reinstituted polytheistic religion. 2 Chronicles 35:25 implies that [[Jeremiah (prophet)|Jeremiah]] wrote a lament for Josiah's passing. A Jewish tradition claims that this lament is preserved in Lamentations chapter 4. ==Critical Scholarship on the Reform of King Josiah== While the Biblical text relates that the scroll was "found", this has been met with skepticism among some modern critics: the view of the English deists of the 16th century (Hertz 1936), that the book was a forgery created to help centralize power under Josiah, is held today among some Biblical scholars. (However, scholars such as W.R. Smith, [[Rudolf Kittel]], Dillman and Driver disagree, pointing out that priestly forgery of the Deuteronomic text was unlikely, as the text placed restrictions on the privileges of the priestly class, who were a thorn in the side of King Josiah.) In the ancient Near East it was commonplace for religious scrolls to be deposited in temple walls when they were constructed (Hertz 1936), and according to the Swiss Egyptologist [[Édouard Naville]], this was the custom amongst the Jews at the time of [[Solomon]]. It would have been more unusual if such scrolls were ''not'' found during the renovation of a temple building, and Naville recounts a similar find recounted in the [[Egyptian Book of the Dead]]. It is interesting to note in this respect that the specific text cited by Naville is one of many which are attributed to famous figures of the past, typically sons of a Pharaoh, and which are all known to have been written at a much later date. On the assumption that [[Deuteronomy]] was forged by Josiah's priests, these scholars go on to propose that the core narrative from Genesis to 2 Kings up to Josiah's reign comprise a "[[Deuteronomistic History]]" (DtrH) written during that reign. This history compiled the hypothesised "J", "E", and "D" narratives, all already textual at this point, of which the J narrative at this time would have extended into the history of [[David]]'s court; the DtrH further attempted to historicise narratives of the times of Joshua and the Judges. The hypothetical DtrH is distinguished from the surviving Biblical books in that it omits the priestly "P" narrative. The DtrH portrayed King Josiah as the ideal ruler as Deuteronomy had defined it, and thus as the rightful ruler of Judah. (This interpretation is often confused with the position of "[[Biblical Minimalism]]", which denies that David and Solomon ruled a united kingdom; but [[Baruch Halpern]] has noted that however tendentious, DtrH must still be treated as a history, and as largely accurate at least for the reign of Josiah.) See [[Dating the Bible]] and [[The Bible and history]]. Such claims are detailed in ''Who Were the Early Israelites?'' by [[William G. Dever]] (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, MI, 2003). Another such book is ''The Bible Unearthed'' by [[Neil A. Silberman]] and [[Israel Finkelstein]] (Simon and Schuster, New York, 2001). ==See also== *[[The Bible Unearthed : Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts]] for the possible role of Josiah in creation of the [[Bible]]. *Hertz J.H. (1936) The Pentateuch and Haftoras. Deuteronomy. Oxford University Press, London. ==External links== *[http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=564&letter=J&search=Josiah Jewish Encyclopedia: Josiah] *[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08523a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia: Josias] *[http://www.wlsessays.net/authors/XYZ/ZiebellJosiah/ZiebellJosiah.pdf Josiah -- Old Testament Model of the Shepherd as Leader by Raymond Ziebell] {{start}} {{s-hou|[[Davidic line|House of David]]|||||[[Tribe of Judah]]}} {{s-reg|}} {{s-bef|before=[[Amon of Judah|Amon]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Kingdom of Judah#The Kings of Judah|King of Judah]]|years=<small>[[Edwin R. Thiele|Thiele]]: </small>641 BC &ndash; 609 BC<br><small>[[William F. Albright|Albright]]: </small>640 BC &ndash; 609 BC}} {{s-aft|after=[[Jehoahaz of Judah|Jehoahaz]]}} {{end}} [[Category:Kings of ancient Judah]] [[Category:648 BC births]] [[Category:609 BC deaths]] [[Category:Military personnel killed in action]] [[ca:Josies]] [[cs:Jóšijáš]] [[de:Joschija]] [[el:Ιωσίας]] [[es:Josías]] [[fr:Josias]] [[it:Giosia]] [[hak:Yok-sî-â-vòng]] [[he:יאשיהו]] [[nl:Josia]] [[ja:ヨシヤ]] [[no:Josjia]] [[pl:Jozjasz (król Judy)]] [[pt:Josias]] [[ru:Иосия]] [[simple:Josiah]] [[sk:Joziáš]] [[sh:Josija]] [[fi:Josia]] [[sv:Josia]] [[yi:יאשיהו]] [[zh:約西亞]]