Reading for October 17th

Read 2 Kings 22.11-20. In verse 11: Tearing clothes is a sign of repentance and distress. Josiah is worried because of the punishments threatened in the law for disobedience, since the people of Judah have not kept the law. In verse 13: Inquire is a techical term for divining or seeking an oracle from God. In verse 14: The prophetess Huldah is one of the few women in the Bible so designated (Miriam, Ex 15.20; Deborah, Judg 4.4; and Isaiah's wife(?), Isa 8.3). The Second Quarter was apparently an expansion of the city of Jerusalem that had taken place, perhaps during Hezekiah's day, in part to accommodate the influx of refugees from Israel. In verses 15-17: The man who sent you to me is Josiah. This place is Jerusalem. This part of Huldah's oracle anticipates the destruction of Jerusalem and the Babylonian Exile. In verse 20: Most scholars believe at least the second half of Huldah's oracle to be genuine because it seems to be contridicted by history. Josiah did not in fact go to his grave peacefully, if this is what peace means. Rather, he was killed in battle (23.29). Comments or Questions..