Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)
First Reading:
From: 2 Kings 22:8-13; 23:1-3
The book of the Law is discovered
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[8] And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, "I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord." And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. [9] And Shaphan the secretary came to the king, and reported to the king, "Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord." [10] Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, "Hilkiah the priest has given me a book." And Shaphan read it before the king.
Huldah the prophetess is consulted
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[11] And when the king heard the words of the book of the law, he rent his clothes. [12] And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shephan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shephan the secretary, and Assiah the king's servant, saying, [13] "Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found; for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us."
A solemn reading of the Book of the Covenant
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Then the king sent, and all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem were gathered to him. [2] And the king went up to the house of the Lord, and with him all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests and the prophets, all the people, both small and great; and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant which had been found in the house of the Lord. [3] And the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book; and all the people joined in the covenant.
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Commentary:
22:1-23-23:30. Much space is given to the account of Josiah's reign, but the focus is entirely on its religious aspects.
The text gives the impression that Josiah's reform took place in a single year, after the finding of the book of the covenant; but it must have been the fruit of a long process, and Jeremiah's prophetical activity (cf. Jer 1:2; 22:15-16) must have been a strong influence from the very start. Neither Jeremiah nor Zephaniah (cf. Zeph 1:1) is mentioned in this book.
The Assyrian empire began to decline at this time and the power of the Medes and the Babylonians was growing apace (Nineveh, the Assyrian capital, was destroyed in 621 BC). All this allowed Josiah to free himself from Assyria and try to build up the kingdom of Judah. But the Lord had already decided the fate of Judah and Jerusalem (cf. 23:26-27).
22:1-23:3. Josiah's reform was based on the words of a book found in the temple. This book is thought to have been a part of the present book of Deuteronomy, perhaps Deuteronomy 12:1-26:19, given that the reform embarked on by the king is in line with the rules given there about having only one place of worship (cf. Deut 12:2-7). Deuteronomy refers to itself as the "book of the law" (Deut 29:20; 31:26).
22:3-10. As befitting a pious king, Josiah's first concern is to repair the temple in which the Lord dwells. To carry out that restoration (much needed, for two hundred years had passed since the previous restoration, and the excesses of Manasseh had done much damage), Josiah applies the dispositions laid down by Jehoash (cf. 12:10-16).
22:11-20. This is all we know of the prophetess Huldah. She may well have been consulted because she was living in Jerusalem (v. 14). The justification given for God's decision is the evil conduct of Josiah's predecessors. As regards Josiah himself, he is not told that he will die a natural death, but that the catastrophe which looms will not happen in his lifetime (v. 20).
The New Vulgate interprets that the king's heart repented on hearing the words "of the book" ("voluminis": v. 18-19; cf. 2 Chron 34:27).
23:1-3. Josiah and his people renew the Covenant on the basis of the book containing the decrees and rulings of the Lord. That book becomes, thereby, the "Book of the Covenant", and it acquires a sacred and normative status for all future generations. When Jesus institutes the new Covenant sealed with and based on his blood (cf. Mk 14:22-25; 1 Cor 11:23-25), that book, together with others which completed it, will continue to bear witness to the Old Covenant, and the Church will in due course call it the Old Testament.