Josiah Deuteronomy

DEUTERONOMY, JOSIAH.) For the last four kings of Judah, the reference to the worship at the high places (presumably abolished by Josiah) are wanting; xxiv. 3 seq., and probably v. 2, which treat the fall of Judah as the punishment for Manasseh's sins, are a Deuteronomic inser tion; v. 13 seq. and v. 15 seq. are duplicates. With xxiv. I8-xxv. 21 cf. Jer. lii. 1-27 (the text of the latter, especially vv. 19 sqq., is superior) ; and the fragments ibid. xxxix. I-1o. Ch. xxv. 22-26 appears in much fuller form in Jer. xl. 7-9, xli. 1-3,17 seq. It is noteworthy that Jeremiah (in contrast to Isaiah, above) does not enter into the history in Kings. The book of Chronicles in general has a briefer account of the last years, and ignores both the narra tives which also appear in Jeremiah and the concluding hopeful note struck by the restoration of Jehoiachin (xxv. 27-30).

Conclusions.

It would seem that there was an independent history of (north) Israel with its own chronological scheme. It was based upon annals and fuller political records and at some period apparently passed through circles where the purely domes tic stories of the prophets (Elisha) were current (cf. similarly the prophetic narratives in the books of Samuel). This was ulti mately taken over by a Judaean editor who was under the influ ence of the far-reaching reforms ascribed to the 18th year of Josiah (621 B.c.). Certain passages seem to imply that in his time the Temple was still standing and the Davidic dynasty un interrupted. On the other hand this could apply to the second Temples and to the resumption of the Davidic monarchy under Zerubbabel ; and if the object of the compiler was to show from past history that "the sovereign is responsible for the purity of the national religion" (G. F. Moore, Ency. Bib., col. 2,079), a later date would satisfy the conditions. Moreover, although the phrase "unto this day" sometimes seems to presuppose a pre-exilic date, it is retained even in the very late books of Chronicles (2 Chron. v. 9, viii. 8, xxi. 1o, compared with 1 Ki. viii. 8, ix. 21, 2 Ki. viii. 22). Again, not only is the history carried down to the death of Jehoiachin (2 Ki. xxv. 27, 29 sqq.), but the chronological scheme

(48o years from the beginning of the Temple to the return from Babylon) points to a date subsequent to 537.

One may contrast the Israelite detailed narratives (relatively early) with those of Judaean origin (often secondary, and with an anti-Israelite bias). The sympathetic treatment of the northern history in 2 Ki. xiii. 4 seq. 23, xiv. 26, has literary parallels in the Deuteronomic redaction of Judges (where Israelite tradition is again predominant) ; and is quite distinct from the hostile (Ju daean) feeling to the north which is also Deuteronomic. In other words, a twofold Deuteronomic redaction of Kings can be traced (similarly in the Book of Joshua) ; and, as the northern prophet Hosea (q.v.) approximates the Deuteronomic standpoint, it is possible that the first Deuteronomic compilation of Kings origi nated outside Judah. Note that an Israelite source could be drawn upon for an impartial account of Judaean history (2 Ki. xiv. and that the book of Jeremiah, with its strong Deuteronomic colouring takes a sympathetic view of (north) Israel. Although ultimately Judaean writers rejected as heathen a people who claimed to be followers of Yahweh (Ezr. iv. 2; 2 Ki. xvii. 28, 33; contrast ib. 34-4o, a secondary insertion) the violent anti Samarian feeling had once been less prominent ; and it may reasonably be supposed that relations between north and south had been closer. But the age wherein the composition of the book of Kings may be placed has been left exceptionally obscure; the Chronicler's history (Chron.–Ezra–Nehemiah) has its own ideas of the course of events, and it has virtually superseded both Kings and Jeremiah, which now have an abrupt conclusion. (See further: JEws.) BIBLIoGRAPHY.—Driver, Lit. of 0. T. (19o9), the commentaries (German) of Benzinger (1899) and Kittel (1900) ; F. C. Kent's Israel's Hist. and Biog. Narratives (pm) ; and the concise works of Barnes (Camb. Bible) and Skinner (Century Bible). On the Hebrew text consult Burney (1903) ; the article "Kings," by W. R. Smith, Ency. Brit., 9th and 11th ed. (partly retained here), is revised by Kautzsch in the Ency. Biblica. (S. A. C.)