2 Chronicles 34 Study Notes

34:16-17 Shaphan apparently did not realize the importance of the discovered book, since he left the report of it until after he covered the general progress of the work.

34:18-21 When Shaphan, the king’s secretary, started to read what was in the book, the king was overcome with dread because he knew that Judah had not kept the word of the Lord for a long time and severe punishment was likely imminent. Josiah wanted specific guidance from the Lord about what he should do.

34:22 Hilkiah and other royal officials consulted a prophetess named Huldah to determine God’s perspective on the situation. As is normal in Chronicles, Huldah’s genealogy is given. Other female prophets in the OT include Miriam (Ex 15:20) and Deborah (Jdg 4:4).

34:23-25 Huldah told them that God’s punishment was inevitable, just as the book of the law predicted. There had been too many generations of wickedness in Judah.

34:26-28 Because of Josiah’s attitude of repentance and his willingness to obey God, the calamity would not happen until after his death. The prophetess inserted this is the Lord’s declaration into her prophecy to assure her hearers she was not speaking her own thoughts, but the very words of God.

34:29-32 King Josiah called a major convocation. Leaders and Levites as well as all the common people of Jerusalem came and heard the public reading of Scripture. The king publicly made a personal covenant with God that he would follow the Lord, and he compelled the crowd to follow him in this commitment.

34:33 Josiah continued to purge the land of idols. He also fulfilled his royal responsibility to present a model for the people to follow in their service to God.