JOSI'AH (Heb. . Yahweh sup ports) (c.639-60S n.c.). King of Judah. lie was the son of Anion and Jedidah. and is said to have succeeded his father at the age of eight years (It. Kings xxii. 1). It is hard to believe that this figure can be correct. Of the early years of his reign we hear nothing. The compiler of Kings is chiefly interested in an important event that happened in the eighteenth year of the King's reign. According to chaps. xxii.-xxiii., the priest liilkiali found in the Temple a hook of the Law which he sent to the King through Shaphan, the scrihe. The King, upon learning of the contents of the book. is in deep distress at the religious practices of the country. which are in flagrant contradiction to the ordinances in the Law book. lie orders an assembly of the elders, and in solemn convocation it is agreed to abide in the future by the laws prescribed in the new book. The narrative then goes on to give an account of the radical religious reforms instituted by .Josiah in destroying all 'Baal cults, in removing the priests from the high places, and establishing the worship of Yahweh in its pure form, freed from all foreign elements. There is no longer question among scholars that the Law book 'found' by Hilkiah was the legal portion of the present hook of Deuteronomy (q.v.). This religious code was probably compiled either by Dill:lab or during the reign of Josiah's predeces sor. Josiah's. religious refrirm marks the end of an important epoch in the religious history of Israel. As a result of the efforts of Elijah,
Elisha, and of such prophets as Amos and Hosea, two principles became established: (1) the wor ship of Yahweh to the exclusion of the Canaan itish Baalim; (2) the centralization of Yahweh worship in the sanctuary at Jerusalem. The times seemed ripe for taking a decisive step in the new direction, and Josiah favored the move ment. A reaction set in after Josiah's death, but the Yahwist zealots had gained their point, and a new direction was given to religious de velopment among the Hebrews. The reign of Josiah seems to have been a peaceful one until the close, when Necho IL. King of Egypt, thought the time opportune, since Assyria's fall was imminent, to attempt to regain control of Syria and Palestine. Josiah encountered the Egyptian forces, and met his death on the plain of Megiddo (11. Kings xxiii. 29-30). His death was regarded as a national calamity. and must have been particularly startling to the pious. who felt that so zealous a follower of 'Yahweh was certain of divine favor and help. The religious reaction after Josiah's death against the Deu teronomie reforms may have been a direct conse quence of the consternation that his tragic fate aroused, which naturally raised a doubt as to the correctness of the step taken by him.