HOW AMON REIGNED INSTEAD OF MANASSEH; AND AFTER AMON REIGNED
JOSIAH; HE WAS BOTH RIGHTEOUS AND RELIGIOUS.
AS ALSO CONCERNING HULDAH
THE PROPHETESS. FJAJ 10.15
1. THIS Amon imitated those works of his father which he insolently
did when he was young: so he had a conspiracy made against him by his own
servants, and was slain in his own house, when he had lived twenty-four
years, and of them had reigned two
But the multitude punished those that
slew Amon, and buried him with his father, and gave the kingdom to his
son Josiah, who was eight years old
His mother was of the city of Boscath,
and her name was Jedidah
He was of a most excellent disposition, and naturally
virtuous, and followed the actions of king David, as a pattern and a rule
to him in the whole conduct of his life
And when he was twelve years old,
he gave demonstrations of his religious and righteous behavior; for he
brought the people to a sober way of living, and exhorted them to leave
off the opinion they had of their idols, because they were not gods, but
to worship their own God
And by repeating on the actions of his progenitors,
he prudently corrected what they did wrong, like a very elderly man, and
like one abundantly able to understand what was fit to be done; and what
he found they had well done, he observed all the country over, and imitated
the same
And thus he acted in following the wisdom and sagacity of his
own nature, and in compliance with the advice and instruction of the elders;
for by following the laws it was that he succeeded so well in the order
of his government, and in piety with regard to the Divine worship
And
this happened because the transgressions of the former kings were seen
no more, but quite vanished away; for the king went about the city, and
the whole country, and cut down the groves which were devoted to strange
gods, and overthrew their altars; and if there were any gifts dedicated
to them by his forefathers, he made them ignominious, and plucked them
down; and by this means he brought the people back from their opinion about
them to the worship of God
He also offered his accustomed sacrifices and
burnt-offerings upon the altar
Moreover, he ordained certain judges and
overseers, that they might order the matters to them severally belonging,
and have regard to justice above all things, and distribute it with the
same concern they would have about their own soul
He also sent over all
the country, and desired such as pleased to bring gold and silver for the
repairs of the temple, according to every one's inclinations and abilities.
And when the money was brought in, he made one Maaseiah the governor of
the city, and Shaphan the scribe, and Joab the recorder, and Eliakim the
high priest, curators of the temple, and of the charges contributed thereto;
who made no delay, nor put the work off at all, but prepared architects,
and whatsoever was proper for those repairs, and set closely about the
work
So the temple was repaired by this means, and became a public demonstration
of the king's piety. FJAJ 10.16
2. But when he was now in the eighteenth year of his reign, he sent
to Eliakim the high priest, and gave order, that out of what money was
overplus, he should cast cups, and dishes, and vials, for ministration
[in the temple]; and besides, that they should bring all the gold or silver
which was among the treasures, and expend that also in making cups and
the like vessels
But as the high priest was bringing out the gold, he
lighted upon the holy books of Moses that were laid up in the temple; and
when he had brought them out, he gave them to Shaphan the scribe, who,
when he had read them, came to the king, and informed him that all was
finished which he had ordered to be done
He also read over the books to
him, who, when he had heard them read, rent his garment, and called for
Eliakim the high priest, and for [Shaphan] the scribe, and for certain
[other] of his most particular friends, and sent them to Huldah the prophetess,
the wife of Shallum, (which Shallum was a man of dignity, and of an eminent
family,) and bid them go to her, and say that [he desired] she would appease
God, and endeavor to render him propitious to them, for that there was
cause to fear, lest, upon the transgression of the laws of Moses by their
forefathers, they should be in peril of going into captivity, and of being
cast out of their own country; lest they should be in want of all things,
and so end their days miserably
When the prophetess had heard this from
the messengers that were sent to her by the king, she bid them go back
to the king, and say that "God had already given sentence against
them, to destroy the people, and cast them out of their country, and deprive
them of all the happiness they enjoyed; which sentence none could set aside
by any prayers of theirs, since it was passed on account of their transgressions
of the laws, and of their not having repented in so long a time, while
the prophets had exhorted them to amend, and had foretold the punishment
that would ensue on their impious practices; which threatening God would
certainly execute upon them, that they might be persuaded that he is God,
and had not deceived them in any respect as to what he had denounced by
his prophets; that yet, because Josiah was a righteous man, he would at
present delay those calamities, but that after his death he would send
on the multitude what miseries he had determined for them. FJAJ 10.17
3. So these messengers, upon this prophecy of the woman, came and told
it to the king; whereupon he sent to the people every where, and ordered
that the priests and the Levites should come together to Jerusalem; and
commanded that those of every age should be present also
And when they
had gathered together, he first read to them the holy books; after which
he stood upon a pulpit, in the midst of the multitude, and obliged them
to make a covenant, with an oath, that they would worship God, and keep
the laws of Moses
Accordingly, they gave their assent willingly, and undertook
to do what the king had recommended to them
So they immediately offered
sacrifices, and that after an acceptable manner, and besought God to be
gracious and merciful to them
He also enjoined the high priest, that if
there remained in the temple any vessel that was dedicated to idols, or
to foreign gods, they should cast it out
So when a great number of such
vessels were got together, he burnt them, and scattered their ashes abroad,
and slew the priests of the idols that were not of the family of Aaron. FJAJ 10.18
4. And when he had done thus in Jerusalem, he came into the country,
and utterly destroyed what buildings had been made therein by king Jeroboam,
in honor of strange gods; and he burnt the bones of the false prophets
upon that altar which Jeroboam first built; and, as the prophet [Jadon],
who came to Jeroboam when he was offering sacrifice, and when all the people
heard him, foretold what would come to pass, viz
that a certain man of
the house of David, Josiah by name, should do what is here mentioned
And
it happened that those predictions took effect after three hundred and
sixty-one years. FJAJ 10.19
5. After these things, Josiah went also to such other Israelites as
had escaped captivity and slavery under the Assyrians, and persuaded them
to desist from their impious practices, and to leave off the honors they
paid to strange gods, but to worship rightly their own Almighty God, and
adhere to him
He also searched the houses, and the villages, and the cities,
out of a suspicion that somebody might have one idol or other in private;
nay, indeed, he took away the chariots [of the sun] that were set up in
his royal palace, (8)
It is hard to reconcile the account in the Second Book of Kings (ch. 23:11)
with this account in Josephus, and to translate this passage truly in Josephus,
whose copies are supposed to be here imperfect. However, the general sense
of both seems to be this: That there were certain chariots, with their
horses, dedicated to the idol of the sun, or to Moloch; which idol might
be carried about in procession, and worshipped by the people; which chariots
were now "taken away," as Josephus says, or, as the Book of Kings
says, "burnt with fire, by Josiah."
which his predecessors had framed, and what thing soever there was besides
which they worshipped as a god
And when he had thus purged all the country,
he called the people to Jerusalem, and there celebrated the feast of unleavened
bread, and that called the passover
He also gave the people for paschal
sacrifices, young kids of the goats, and lambs, thirty thousand, and three
thousand oxen for burnt-offerings
The principal of the priests also gave
to the priests against the passover two thousand and six hundred lambs;
the principal of the Levites also gave to the Levites five thousand lambs,
and five hundred oxen, by which means there was great plenty of sacrifices;
and they offered those sacrifices according to the laws of Moses, while
every priest explained the matter, and ministered to the multitude
And
indeed there had been no other festival thus celebrated by the Hebrews
from the times of Samuel the prophet; and the plenty of sacrifices now
was the occasion that all things were performed according to the laws,
and according to the custom of their forefathers
So when Josiah had after
this lived in peace, nay, in riches and reputation also, among all men,
he ended his life in the manner following. FJAJ 10.20