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2 Kings 22:3

in 2 Kings 22

Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, King Josiah sent the scribe, Shaphan son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, to the house of the LORD, saying,

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And it came to pass in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, that the king sent Shaphan, the son of Azaliah the son of Meshullam, the scribe, to the house of Jehovah, saying,

KJV

And it came to pass in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, that the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, the scribe, to the house of the Lord, saying,

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This verse in 2 Kings 22

Commentary

5 notes on this verse
In the eighteenth year - This is the date of the finding of the Book of the Law and of the Passover (marginal reference, and 2Ki 23:23), but is not meant to apply to all the various reforms of Josiah as related in 2 Kings 23:4-20. The true chronology of Josiah’s reign is to be learned from 2Ch 34:3-8; 2Ch 35:1. From these places it appear that at least the greater part of his reforms preceded the finding of the Book of the Law.

This site's exposition

sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah

on 2 Kings 22:3-5

In the eighteenth year of his reign, with the throne finally secure, Josiah sends his scribe Shaphan to Hilkiah the high priest to settle the silver gathered at the temple door by the keepers, the same collection method used two centuries earlier at 2 Ki 12:9. The fuller chronology of 2 Chr 34:3-8 places the start of his seeking in his eighth year and the purging of idols in his twelfth, so the eighteenth year marks the finding of the book, not the beginning of the reform. The silver goes straight from the priest's hand to the men who oversee the work, the same chain Joash set up for the same purpose a century before.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Ephrem the Syrian

ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 22:1 · Written before 373.

proposed

"Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign; and he did what was right in the sight of the Lord" for the thirty-one years in which he reigned. In the eighteenth year from the beginning of his rule, he began to purify Judah …

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

He began much sooner to seek the Lord (as appears, 2 Chron. xxxiv. 3 ), but it is to be feared the work of reformation went slowly on and met with much opposition, so that he could not effect what he desired and designed, till his power was thoroughly confirmed.
And it came to pass in the eighteenth year of King Josiah,....

The words behind it

18 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיְהִ֗יand it was

    vayhiH1961 →3559 times

  • בִּשְׁמֹנֶ֤הin eight-

    bishmonehH8083 →109 times

  • עֶשְׂרֵה֙teen

    ʾesrehH6240 →338 times

  • שָׁנָ֔הyear

    shanahH8141 →877 times

  • לַמֶּ֖לֶךְof the king

    lamelekhH4428 →2525 times

  • יֹאשִׁיָּ֑הוּJosiah

    yoshiyahuH2977 →53 times

  • שָׁלַ֣חhe sent

    shalachH7971 →845 times

  • הַ֠מֶּלֶךְthe king

    hamelekhH4428 →2525 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • שָׁפָ֨ןShaphan

    shafanH8227 →34 times

  • בֶּן־[the] son of

    ben-H1121 →4930 times

  • אֲצַלְיָ֤הוּAzaliah

    ʾatzalyahuH683 →

  • בֶן־[the] son of

    ven-H1121 →4930 times

  • מְשֻׁלָּם֙Meshullam

    meshulamH4918 →

  • הַסֹּפֵ֔רthe scribe

    hasoferH5608 →159 times

  • בֵּ֥ית[the] house of

    beitH1004 →2046 times

  • יְהוָ֖הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • לֵאמֹֽר׃<to> saying

    lemorH559 →5305 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

4 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

2 Kings 22:9And Shaphan the scribe went to the king and reported, “Your servants have paid out the money that was found in the temple and have put it into the hands of the workers and supervisors of the house of the LORD.”2 worksEzekiel 8:11Before them stood seventy elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing among them. Each had a censer in his hand, and a fragrant cloud of incense was rising.2 worksJeremiah 36:12he went down to the scribe’s chamber in the king’s palace, where all the officials were sitting: Elishama the scribe, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Achbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the other officials.2 works2 Chronicles 34:3–33In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, Josiah began to seek the God of his father David, and in the twelfth year he began to cleanse Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherah poles, the carved idols, and the cast images.1 works

Where this verse is studied

What the record shows

1 entry
  • Shaphan — attested in contemporary inscriptionundisputed

    City of David bulla of 'Gemariah son of Shaphan'

    Biblical figure (Scribe under Josiah, 640/639-609 BC) identified in extra-biblical epigraphy.

    Counterpoint: Shaphan appears here only as a father's name on his son's seal, and the bulla carries no title. Standard method for these identifications, set out by Lawrence Mykytiuk, asks for three matching marks such as name, father's name, and office; this seal supplies two.

About 2 Kings

Elijah Ascends to Heaven in a Chariot of Fire, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Elijah Ascends to Heaven in a Chariot of Fire, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
2 Kings: the study guide →Read 2 Kings 22 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Ephrem the Syrian, ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 22:1; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 2 Kings 22 →