²²So Hilkiah, and they whom the king had commanded, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tokhath[¹], the son of Hasrah[²], keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the second quarter[³];) and they spake to her to that effect. ²³And she said unto them, Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: Tell ye the man that sent you unto me,
[¹] In 2 Kings xxii. 14, Tikvah.
[²] In 2 Kings xxii. 14, Harhas.
[³] Hebrew Mishneh.
22. had commanded] These words, which are obviously required, are not in the Hebrew: the verb āmar has fallen out of the text by some accident.
the prophetess] This title is given to Miriam (Exodus xv. 20), Deborah (Judges iv. 4), Anna (Luke ii. 36); compare also Nehemiah vi. 14; Revelation ii. 20.
Tokhath] In 2 Kings Tikvah.
Hasrah] In 2 Kings Harhas.
keeper of the wardrobe] Literally “keeper of the garments.” The Hebrew word for garments (bĕgādim]) is applied to a king’s robes (xviii. 29), to a high-priest’s vestments (Exodus xxviii. 2, 4), and to clothes in general; it is therefore not easy to say what office precisely is here referred to. Perhaps the garments here meant were ecclesiastical and not royal. There is ample evidence that ancient temples possessed a store of ceremonial garments for the use not only of the worshippers but also of the images, compare 2 Kings x. 22, and generally the Encyclopedia Britannica¹¹ s.v. costume, pp. 230a, 231b. As early as the VIth dynasty an Egyptian priest is mentioned as “master of the wardrobe.”
in the second quarter] Or, in the second division. Compare Zephaniah i. 10. The physical configuration of ancient Jerusalem was such that it might naturally be regarded as divided into two districts, the eastern and western, with the valley of the Tyropœon between. Compare Nehemiah iii. 9, 12, and also Nehemiah xi. 9 (with Ryle’s note on second over the city, which should probably be rendered over the second part of the city).