a. Josiah’s piety and cultic reform (34:1-13)

Young Josiah receives an unqualified positive evaluation (v.2). At sixteen, Josiah begins to seek David’s God (v.3). This personal piety becomes public. Vv.3-7, peculiar to Chronicles, concern action prior to Josiah’s temple purification. The twenty-year-old king purges the nation of high places and items for false worship. He executes rival priests. The geographical notations show that Josiah is concerned with the spiritual vitality of all Israel.

Josiah begins to purify the temple in his eighteenth reignal year. Second Kings presents this event as if it started Josiah’s reform. Chronicles, however, places the temple cleansing in the middle of the revival. The first phase of renewal is removal of alternative forms of worship. The second is rebuilding the Lord’s house. Hilkiah manages the funds collected from the whole country to refurbish the temple. Levites supervise the hired men and accompany the work with songs of praise.