A Popular Dictionary of Judaism
(640–609BCE). King of the *Southern Kingdom. According to the author of II *Kings, Josiah was responsible for a thoroughgoing reformation of the cult resulting from the discovery of a version of the Book of *Deuteronomy in the *Temple.
In the late 7th Century BCE, Assyria was the dominant power in the Middle East and it is probable that Josiah’s rejection of any form of *idolatry was a gesture of independence and an exploitation of Assyrian weakness. The provincial *High Places were destroyed and the people publicly agreed to keep the Law of *God. Josiah is commended warmly in the Biblical account of these events (II Kings 22 and 23). (See *DEUTERONOMIC HISTORIAN).
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