Law” in the temple, and thereupon handed the document to Shaphan, who perused it forthwith.  On his return to the palace, the scribe made his report:  “Thy servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen;” then he added “Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book,” and proceeded to read it to the king.  When the latter had heard the words contained in this Book of the Law, he was seized with anguish, and rent his garments; then, unable to arrive at any decision by himself, he sent Hilkiah, Shaphan, Ahikam, Achbor, and Asaiah to inquire of Jahveh for him and for his people, “for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us.”

[Illustration:  364.jpg DECORATIONS ON THE WRAPPINGS OF A MUMMY.]

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