Josiah
The boy king who turned Judah back to God with his whole heart
The Boy King
Josiah became king of Judah at age eight after his father Amon was assassinated by his own servants. He reigned for thirty-one years (640–609 BC) and is remembered as one of the greatest kings in Judah’s history. Scripture gives him an unusually high commendation:
2 Kings 23:25
“And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.”
Josiah was the great-grandson of Hezekiah, but his father Amon and grandfather Manasseh had both been deeply wicked, filling Jerusalem with idolatry. Josiah grew up surrounded by religious corruption yet began seeking God at age sixteen, and at twenty launched a sweeping religious reform.
The Reform
Josiah’s reform was comprehensive and courageous. He ordered the removal and destruction of every idol, Asherah pole, high place, and pagan altar throughout Judah—including the high places that Solomon had built for the gods of his foreign wives, which had stood for over 300 years. He went north into what had been Israel, defiling the high places at Bethel where Jeroboam’s calf-worship had begun, and burning bones of pagan priests on those altars in fulfillment of a prophecy spoken three centuries earlier (2 Kings 23:15–16; 1 Kings 13:2).
The Discovery of the Book of the Law
In Josiah’s eighteenth year, while the temple was being repaired, the high priest Hilkiah found “the book of the law” in the temple—likely Deuteronomy or a major portion of the Torah—which had apparently been lost or neglected during the long decades of apostasy under Manasseh. When the scroll was read aloud to Josiah, he tore his clothing in grief:
2 Kings 22:13
“Go ye, enquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: 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.”
Josiah sent his officials to the prophetess Huldah, who confirmed that judgment was coming on Judah for its long apostasy—but that it would not come during Josiah’s reign because of his tender heart and genuine humility before God (2 Kings 22:19–20).
Josiah then assembled all the people of Judah and read the entire book of the covenant to them publicly. He stood by the temple pillar and renewed the covenant before God—and all the people joined the covenant (2 Kings 23:1–3). He then kept the Passover in a manner unprecedented since the time of the judges.
His Death and Legacy
Josiah died at Megiddo in 609 BC attempting to intercept the Egyptian army of Pharaoh Necho, who was marching to assist Assyria against Babylon. The text offers no explanation for why Josiah engaged Egypt; the decision led to his death by archers. The prophet Jeremiah lamented for him, and all Judah mourned deeply (2 Chronicles 35:25).
Josiah’s story demonstrates that one person’s wholehearted turning to God can redirect the trajectory of a nation, even if only temporarily. He inherited a people deeply corrupted by generations of idolatry, and by personal example and decisive action created space for a generation to encounter God’s law and renew their covenant. Though the judgment Huldah prophesied came on the next generation, Josiah shows that it is always worth doing right—even when it cannot be made permanent.
Key Scriptures
- 2 Kings 22 — Discovery of the Book of the Law; Huldah’s prophecy
- 2 Kings 23 — The reform; covenant renewal; Passover
- 2 Kings 23:25 — The highest commendation given to any king