The envoys betook themselves not to the official oracle or the recognised prophets, but to a woman, the prophetess Huldah, who was attached to the court in virtue of her husband’s office; and she bade them, in the name of the Most High, to summon a meeting of the faithful, and, after reading the new code to them, to call upon all present to promise that they would henceforth observe its ordinances: thus Jahveh would be appeased, and since the king had “rent his garments and wept before Me, I also have heard thee, saith Jahveh. Therefore, behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace.” Josiah thereupon having summoned the elders of Judah and Jerusalem, went up into the temple, and there, standing on the platform, he read the Book of the Law in the presence of the whole people.*
* 2 Kings xxii. 3-20; xxiii. 1, 2. The narrative has
undergone slight interpolation in places, e.g. verses 46,
5a, 6, and 7, where the compiler has made it harmonise with
events previously recorded in connection with the reign of
Joash (2 Kings xii. 6-16). The beginning of Huldah’s
prophecy was suppressed, when the capture of Jerusalem
proved that the reform of divine worship had not succeeded
in averting the wrath of Jahveh. It probably contained
directions to read the Book of the Covenant to the people,
and to persuade them to adopt its precepts, followed by a
promise to save Judah provided it remained faithful to its
engagements.
It dealt with questions which had been frequent subjects of debate in prophetic circles since the days of Hezekiah, and the anonymous writer who had compiled it was so strongly imbued with the ideas of Jeremiah, and had so closely followed his style, that some have been inclined to ascribe the work to Jeremiah himself. It has always been a custom among Orientals to affirm that any work for which they profess particular esteem was discovered in the temple of a god; the Egyptian priests, for instance, invented an origin of this nature for the more important chapters of their Book of the Dead, and for the leading treatises in the scientific literature of Egypt. The author of the Book of the Law had ransacked the distant past for the name of the leader who had delivered Israel from captivity in Egypt. He told how Moses, when he began to feel the hand of death upon him, determined to declare in Gilead the decrees which Jahveh had delivered to him for the guidance of His people.* In these ordinances the indivisible nature of God, and His jealousy of any participation of other deities in the worship of His people, are strongly emphasised. “Ye shall surely destroy all the places wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains and upon the hills, and under every green tree: and ye shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and burn their Asherim with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods; and ye shall destroy their name out of that place.” **
* Even St. Jerome and St. John Chrysostom admitted that
Deuteronomy was the book discovered by Hilkiah in the temple
during the reign of Josiah, and this view is accepted at
present, though it is applied, not to the book of
Deuteronomy as it appears in the Pentateuch, but rather to
the nucleus of this book, and especially chaps, xii.-xxvi.
** Deut. xii. 2, 3.
Even were a prophet or dreamer of dreams to arise in the midst of the faithful and direct them by a sign or a miracle to turn aside after those accursed gods, they must not follow the teaching of these false guides, not even if the sign or miracle actually came to pass, but must seize and slay them. Even “if thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods,... thou shalt not consent unto him nor hearken unto him: neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him: but thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and, afterwards the hand of all the people. And thou shalt stone him with stones that he die; because he hath sought to draw thee away from Jahveh!”* And this Jahveh was not the Jahveh of any special place. He was not the Jahveh of Bethel, or of Dan, or of Mizpah, or of Geba, or of Beersheba; He is simply Jahveh.** Yet the seat of His worship was not a matter of indifference to Him. “Unto the place which Jahveh shall choose out of all your tribes to put His name there, even unto His habitation shall ye seek, and thither shalt thou come: and thither shall ye bring your... sacrifices and your tithes.” *** Jerusalem is not mentioned by name, but the reference to it was clear, since every one knew that the suppression of the provincial sanctuaries must necessarily benefit it. One part of the new code dealt with the relations between different members of the community. The king was to approximate as closely as possible to the ideal priest; he was not to lift up his heart above his brethren, nor set his mind on the possession of many chariots, horses, or wives, but must continually read the law of God and ponder over His ordinances, and observe them word for word all the days of his life.****
* Deut. xiii. 1-10.
** Deut. vi. 4. The expression found in Zecli. xiv. 9 was
borrowed from the second of the introductions added to
Deuteronomy at a later date; the phrase harmonises so
closely with the main purpose of the book itself, that there
can be no objection to employing it here.
*** Deut. xii. 5, 6.
**** Deut. xvii. 14-20; cf. xx. 1-9 for the regulations in
regard to the levying of troops.
Even in time of war he was not to put his trust in his soldiers or in his own personal valour; here again he must allow himself to be guided by Jahveh, and must undertake nothing without first consulting Him through the medium of His priests. The poor,* the widow, and the orphan,** the bondservant,*** and even the stranger within the gates—in remembrance of the bondage in Egypt ****—were all specially placed under the divine protection; every Jew who had become enslaved to a fellow-countryman was to be set at liberty at the end of six years, and was to receive a small allowance from his master which would ensure him for a time against starvation.^
* As to the poor, and the charitable obligations towards
them imposed by their common religion, cf. Deut. xv. 7-11;
as to the rights of the hired servant, cf. xxiv. 14, 15.
** Deut. xxiv. 17-22 forbids the taking of a widow’s
clothing in pledge, and lays down regulations in regard to
gleaning permitted to widows and orphans (cf. Lev. xix. 9,
10); reference is also made to their share in triennial
tithe (Deut. xiv. 28, 29; xxvi. 12, 13) and in the solemn
festivals (Deut. xvi. 11-14).
*** Slaves were allowed to share in the rejoicings during
the great festivals (Deut. xvi. 11, 14), and certain rights
were accorded to women taken prisoners in war who had become
their captors’ concubines (Deut. xxi. 10-14).
****Participation of the stranger in the triennial tithe
(Deut. xiv. 28, 29; xxvi. 12, 13).
^ Deut. xv. 12-18.