Synopsis of the Chapter
The pious Josiah reigns piously, and diligently reads through the discovered Deuteronomy, and hears from Huldah the prophetess that the punishments which God threatens against the wicked therein will come not upon himself, but upon his sons.
Verse 1: Josiah Was Eight Years Old When He Began to Reign ¶
1. Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign. — This name was imposed on him by God and predicted 327 years before; for that many years passed from Rehoboam and Jeroboam to Josiah, 3 Kings 13:2. For Josiah in Hebrew is said as if ia seai, that is, a gift of God or an offering, or as if ia es, that is, the fire of God, on account of his zeal and fiery sacrifices, and because he burned idolaters with fire. Hear the Author of the Imperfect Work attributed to Chrysostom, homily 1 on Matthew: "Josiah is interpreted as a sacrifice to the Lord, or salvation to the Lord. And the providence of God, according to what Josiah was to be, ordained that the name be given to him, which means sacrifice to the Lord, or salvation of the Lord: because truly in him there was a sacrifice to the Lord. For he offered such a sacrifice to the Lord God, as no king before him, nor after him. And he himself was a sacrifice to God according to what the Apostle commands: That you may present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God. And he himself was the salvation of his people in his time from God." And further on: "For Josiah is the third whose name was prophesied before he was born. These three are: Samson, Josiah, John."
Verse 5: For Restoring the Repairs of the Temple ¶
5. For restoring the repairs of the temple. — Josiah in the restoration of the temple imitated his ancestor Joash king of Judah, and followed his method in the restoration.
Verse 7: Let No Accounting Be Required of Them for the Money ¶
7. Let no accounting be required of them for the money, — that is, let no account or reckoning be demanded of them, but let all money and expenditure be entrusted to their good faith, which Joash had commanded in other words in chapter 12, verse 15, saying: No account was taken of those men who received money to distribute it to the craftsmen, but they handled it in good faith.
Verse 8: I Have Found the Book of the Law in the Temple ¶
8. I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the Lord, — namely Deuteronomy, as Chrysostom says, homily 9 on Matthew chapter 2, St. Athanasius, letter to Marcellinus, and Abulensis; or the entire Pentateuch, as Josephus says, who adds that it was found in the treasury, while they were taking gold from it for the repairs of the temple roof. Indeed in the time of the impious Manasseh, who reigned for 55 years, through so many years the law had been so neglected, and the worship of God so profaned, that the "book of the law" was written about as if it were something newly discovered, says Cajetan. Lyranus adds from Rabbi Solomon that the impious Ahaz, who was the grandfather of Manasseh, had burned the books of the law, lest he be convicted of violating the law and of idolatry by them. Therefore the priests secretly hid the book of the law in a wall of the temple which they had pierced and sealed up: and the masons, while restoring the repairs of the temple at the command of Josiah, found the book, and brought it to the high priest, and he to King Josiah.
Verse 14: Hilkiah Went to Huldah the Prophetess ¶
14. So Hilkiah the priest went, etc., to Huldah the prophetess, the wife (the Septuagint of Sixtus has "mother") of Shallum. — This "Shallum" the Hebrews relate was the uncle of Jeremiah's father. Why did they not go to Jeremiah, who was prophesying at that time? Perhaps because he was absent from the city. St. Jerome adds, book 2 Against the Pelagians, that in the fact that a woman was consulted there is a hidden reproof of the king, the priests, and all the men, that no holy man could be found who could predict the future. Finally this "Huldah" was celebrated and venerable among all for her old age, prudence, holiness, and oracles, just as Deborah, Judges chapter 4, and Hannah the mother of Samuel, 1 Kings chapter 2.
Who lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter, — namely in that part of the city which was called "the Second City," near the second wall (for there were altogether three walls) of the city, and near the second or middle gate, which was called "the Fish Gate," through which one went to the temple, whence through it the Chaldeans invaded Jerusalem and the temple. So St. Jerome, at the place already cited, Villalpandus, Ribera, Salianus, Serarius and others. See Adrichomius in his Description of Jerusalem. The Chaldean translates "Second" as "house of instruction," that is, a school; Vatablus, as the place of second dignity after the temple, in which place attention was given to learning and teaching. For in it lived prophets and teachers, and among them the Rechabites. Hence also the Talmud is divided into the Mishnah and the Gemara. For Mishnah signifies "second," as if the first is the law of Moses, and the second is the Talmudic repetition and explanation of the law.