Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Josiah establishes a covenant between God and the people, and therefore abolishes idols, shrines, soothsayers, horses of the sun, high places, the golden calves of Jeroboam, and in verse 21, celebrates a solemn Passover. Finally, in verse 29, he is killed in battle by Pharaoh Necho, who after carrying away his son Jehoahaz, substitutes his brother Jehoiakim as king.
Vulgate Text: 4 Kings 23:1-37
1. And they reported to the king what she had said. And he sent: and all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem gathered to him. 2. And the king went up to the temple of the Lord, and all the men of Judah, and all who lived in Jerusalem with him, the priests and prophets, and all the people from the least to the greatest: and he read in the hearing of all, all the words of the book of the covenant, which had been found in the house of the Lord. 3. And the king stood upon the step: and he struck a covenant before the Lord, that they would walk after the Lord, and keep His commandments, and His testimonies, and His ceremonies, with all their heart, and with all their soul, and would fulfill the words of this covenant, which were written in that book: and the people agreed to the pact. 4. And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the doorkeepers, to cast out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that had been made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven; and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the Valley of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. 5. And he abolished the soothsayers, whom the kings of Judah had appointed to sacrifice in the high places throughout the cities of Judah, and around Jerusalem: and those who burned incense to Baal, and to the Sun, and to the Moon, and to the twelve signs, and to all the host of heaven. 6. And he caused the grove to be carried out of the house of the Lord outside Jerusalem to the Valley of Kidron, and he burned it there, and reduced it to powder, and cast it upon the graves of the common people. 7. He also destroyed the dwellings of the male prostitutes, which were in the house of the Lord, in which women wove coverings for the grove. 8. And he gathered all the priests from the cities of Judah: and he defiled the high places where the priests had sacrificed, from Gibeah to Beersheba; and he destroyed the altars of the gates at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which was on the left side of the city gate. 9. Nevertheless the priests of the high places did not go up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem: but they ate unleavened bread among their brethren. 10. He also defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the son of Hinnom: so that no one would consecrate his son or daughter by fire to Moloch. 11. He also removed the horses which the kings of Judah had given to the Sun, at the entrance of the temple of the Lord near the chamber of Nathan-melech the eunuch, who was in Parvarim: and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. 12. And the altars that were on the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the temple of the Lord, the king destroyed, and ran from there, and scattered their ashes in the Brook Kidron. 13. And the high places which were in Jerusalem, on the right side of the Mount of Offense, which Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the idol of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the offense of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, the king defiled. 14. And he broke the statues in pieces, and cut down the groves: and filled their places with the bones of the dead. 15. Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made: both that altar and the high place he destroyed, and burned, and ground to powder, and also burned the grove. 16. And Josiah turned and saw the tombs that were there on the mountain: and he sent and took the bones from the tombs, and burned them on the altar, and defiled it according to the word of the Lord, which the man of God had spoken, who foretold these things. 17. And he said: What is that monument that I see? And the citizens of that city answered him: It is the tomb of the man of God, who came from Judah, and foretold these things which you have done upon the altar of Bethel. 18. And he said: Let him alone, let no one disturb his bones. And his bones remained untouched, along with the bones of the prophet who had come from Samaria. 19. Moreover all the shrines of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the Lord, Josiah removed: and he did to them according to all the works which he had done in Bethel. 20. And he killed all the priests of the high places who were there upon the altars: and he burned human bones upon them: and he returned to Jerusalem. 21. And he commanded all the people, saying: Keep the Passover to the Lord your God, according to what is written in the book of this covenant. 22. For no such Passover had been kept from the days of the judges who judged Israel, and all the days of the kings of Israel, and of the kings of Judah, 23. as this Passover was kept to the Lord in Jerusalem in the eighteenth year of King Josiah. 24. Moreover the mediums, and the soothsayers, and the images of idols, and the uncleannesses, and the abominations which had been in the land of Judah and Jerusalem, Josiah removed: that he might establish the words of the law which were written in the book which Hilkiah the priest had found in the temple of the Lord. 25. There was no king before him like him, who returned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to the entire law of Moses: nor after him did there arise one like him. 26. Nevertheless the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath, with which His fury burned against Judah: because of the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him. 27. And the Lord said: I will also remove Judah from My sight, as I removed Israel: and I will cast off this city which I chose, Jerusalem, and the house of which I said: My name shall be there. 28. And the rest of the deeds of Josiah, and all that he did, are not these things written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 29. In his days Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt went up against the king of the Assyrians, to the river Euphrates, and King Josiah went out to meet him: and he was killed at Megiddo, when he saw him. 30. And his servants carried him dead from Megiddo: and they brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own tomb. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah: and they anointed him, and made him king in his father's place. 31. Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32. And he did evil before the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 33. And Pharaoh Necho bound him at Riblah, which is in the land of Hamath, so that he would not reign in Jerusalem: and he imposed a fine on the land of a hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold. 34. And Pharaoh Necho made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father: and he changed his name to Jehoiakim. And he took Jehoahaz, and brought him to Egypt, and he died there. 35. And Jehoiakim gave the silver and gold to Pharaoh, having assessed the land person by person, to be contributed according to Pharaoh's command: and he exacted from each according to his means, both silver and gold, from the people of the land, to give to Pharaoh Necho. 36. Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign: and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Zebidah, daughter of Pedaiah, of Rumah. 37. And he did evil before the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done.
Verse 3: And the King Stood Upon the Steps
3. And the king stood upon the steps, — upon which a royal seat was erected as a throne; whence 2 Chronicles 34:31 calls it a "platform," on which Joash also before Josiah had struck a similar covenant between God and the people, 4 Kings chapter 11, verse 14, as also Solomon, 2 Chronicles chapter 6, verse 12. And this seems to be the "covered way of the sabbath;" as I said, chapter 16, verse 18. Moreover Josiah made the people swear to keep this covenant exactly, as is said in 2 Chronicles chapter 34, verse 32. In a similar way Moses established the first covenant of the people with God, Exodus 24, with various ceremonies which would more deeply impress it upon the people.
Verse 4: The King Commanded Hilkiah the High Priest
4. And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second order. — that is, the lesser priests, who were subject to the high priest, namely Hilkiah the Pontiff. So Abulensis, Vatablus, Sanchez and others, although others by "second order" understand the second class. For the priests had been distributed by David into various classes according to families.
And he carried their ashes (of the idols and vessels dedicated to them, and therefore burned by him) to Bethel, — so that not even such impious dust would remain in the land of Judah, which was holy: for "Bethel" was a place profaned by the idolatry of Jeroboam, who was the first king of Israel. So Cajetan.
And they would fulfill the words of the covenant. — "To fulfill" [literally: "to raise up"] is to raise from death to life; but the words of the law and of the divine covenant had by the idols of Manasseh been consigned to oblivion by many, and were as if dead; therefore Josiah, by reading them to the people and impressing them upon them, seems to have raised them as if from death to life, or at least from sleep as if drowsy to wakefulness. and all the shrines of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the Lord, Josiah removed: and he did to them according to all the works which he had done in Bethel. 20. And he killed all the priests of the high places who were there upon the altars: and he burned human bones upon them: and he returned to Jerusalem. 21. And he commanded all the people, saying: Keep the Passover to the Lord your God, according to what is written in the book of this covenant. 22. For no such Passover had been kept from the days of the judges who judged Israel, and all the days of the kings of Israel, and of the kings of Judah, 23. as this Passover was kept to the Lord in Jerusalem in the eighteenth year of King Josiah. 24. Moreover the mediums, and the soothsayers, and the images of idols, and the uncleannesses, and the abominations which had been in the land of Judah and Jerusalem, Josiah removed: that he might establish the words of the law which were written in the book which Hilkiah the priest had found in the temple of the Lord. 25. There was no king before him like him, who returned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to the entire law of Moses: nor after him did there arise one like him. 26. Nevertheless the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath, with which His fury burned against Judah: because of the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him. 27. And the Lord said: I will also remove Judah from My sight, as I removed Israel: and I will cast off this city which I chose, Jerusalem, and the house of which I said: My name shall be there. 28. And the rest of the deeds of Josiah, and all that he did, are not these things written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 29. In his days Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt went up against the king of the Assyrians, to the river Euphrates, and King Josiah went out to meet him: and he was killed at Megiddo, when he saw him. 30. And his servants carried him dead from Megiddo: and they brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own tomb. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah: and they anointed him, and made him king in his father's place. 31. Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32. And he did evil before the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 33. And Pharaoh Necho bound him at Riblah, which is in the land of Hamath, so that he would not reign in Jerusalem: and he imposed a fine on the land of a hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold. 34. And Pharaoh Necho made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father: and he changed his name to Jehoiakim. And he took Jehoahaz, and brought him to Egypt, and he died there. 35. And Jehoiakim gave the silver and gold to Pharaoh, having assessed the land person by person, to be contributed according to Pharaoh's command: and he exacted from each according to his means, both silver and gold, from the people of the land, to give to Pharaoh Necho. 36. Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign: and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Zebidah, daughter of Pedaiah, of Rumah. 37. And he did evil before the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 7. He also destroyed the dwellings of the male prostitutes, — namely of male prostitutes dedicated to Venus and Priapus, just as Asa had destroyed the same, book 3, chapter 15, verses 12 and 13. In which women wove (from threads, strings, or branches) coverings for the grove, — so that with these, as with curtains and hangings, the effeminate men would veil and cover their obscenity, in the grove which they had erected in the temple, for unspeakable lusts.
Verse 8: And he Defiled the High Places
8. And he defiled the high places, — namely the temples and profane shrines erected in high places, by profaning, destroying, and filling them with filth and the bones of the dead, as is said in verse 14; whence explaining he adds: And he destroyed the altars. — What and of what kind the "high places" were, I have said in book 3, chapter 3, verse 2.
Verse 9: The Priests of the High Places Did Not Go Up
9. Nevertheless the priests of the high places did not go up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brethren, — that is, Josiah did not permit those priests, who had sacrificed impiously or unlawfully in the high places, to go to Jerusalem and minister in the temple, since they were polluted by the impure sacrifices of idols or superstitions: but nevertheless he permitted them to be fed with unleavened bread and the other foods which the other priests and Levites consumed from the offerings of the people. So Abulensis and others.
Verse 10: He Also Defiled Topheth
10. He also defiled Topheth. — It was a place in "Gehenna," that is in the valley of the sons of Hinnom, near Jerusalem, in which parents burned their children to the idol Moloch, and lest their cries be heard, they beat the toph, that is the drum; whence the place was called Topheth. See what was said on Isaiah 30:33, and Jeremiah 7:31. This place therefore, along with the idol Moloch, to which it was sacred, Josiah "defiled," that is, profaned, destroyed, and filled with bones and dung.
Verse 11: He Removed the Horses Given to the Sun
11. He also removed the horses which the kings of Judah had given to the Sun. — What and of what kind were these horses of the Sun? I reply: The Persians and other nations worshipped the Sun as God on account of its exceptional brilliance, beauty, and usefulness, and called it Mithra and Apollo, and dedicated horses to it, partly painted and sculpted, partly real and living, because the horse, the swiftest of animals, represents the swiftest motion of the Sun. Witness Xenophon, book 8 of the Cyropaedia; Herodotus, book 1, at the end; Justin, book 1 and others. Whence Ovid, Fasti 1: The Persian appeases garlanded Hyperion with a horse, Lest a slow victim be given to a swift God. Hence the poets fable that the Sun is borne on a four-horse chariot, drawn by four very swift horses, namely, as Ovid says, Metamorphoses 2: Pyrois, Eous, and Aethon, Sun's horses, and the fourth Phlegon. By which Abulensis thinks are signified the four parts of the year and of the day. Macrobius paints the image and idol of the Sun thus, Saturnalia book 1, chapter 30: "Now indeed, he says, that Jupiter and the Sun are the same is discerned both from the rite of the sacred ceremonies and from their appearance. For a golden image in the likeness of a beardless youth stands with its right hand raised with a whip in the manner of a charioteer, and in its left hand holds a thunderbolt and stalks of grain. All of which demonstrate the combined power of Jupiter and the Sun. The religion of this temple also excels in divination, which pertains to the power of Apollo, who is the same as the Sun. For the image of the god of Heliopolis is carried on a litter, just as the images of gods are carried in the procession of the Circus games, and the leading men of the province generally go under it, with shaved heads, purified by the chastity of a long period of time, and they are borne by a divine spirit, not at their own will, but wherever God drives those who bear it."
Macrobius adds that hence the god is called by the Syrians "Adad," that is "one," because the Sun is one, just as God is one in the world. The same author, book 1 on the Dream of Scipio: "Cicero, he says, asserts that the Sun is the leader, and chief, and governor of the other lights, whom Heraclitus calls the fountain of heavenly light. He is therefore a leader, because he surpasses all in the majesty of his light. Chief, because he so excels that, because he alone appears as such, he is called the sun. He is called the governor of the others, because he himself regulates the courses and returns of them by a fixed measure of space." And shortly after: "He is called the mind of the world, as the natural philosophers called him the heart of heaven, because the Sun distributes day and night, then the mild temperature of spring, the scorching heat of Cancer and Leo, the softness of the autumn breeze, the force of cold between each season — all these things the course and reason of the Sun dispenses. Rightly therefore is he called the heart of heaven, through whom all things are accomplished that we see done by divine reason."
You will ask secondly, by what rite did they worship the Sun by means of horses? First, the Scholastic Historians think the Jews represented with these horses and chariot the fiery chariot and horses by which Elijah, as it were an incense offering, that is the Sun, was taken up into heaven, as we heard in chapter 2. So Eucherius and Angelomus, who also add: "The Greeks, hearing from the Israelites that Elijah was transported to the heavens by a fiery chariot and fiery horses, or indeed seeing this depicted among other things on a wall, were deceived by the similarity of the name, and believed that here the transit of the Sun through the heavens was designated; and they changed a miracle divinely wrought by God into an argument for error, invented by human folly. The Jews themselves imitated these, and strove not to appear less foolish than the most foolish of the Gentiles in anything." Second, better is Rabbi Solomon: Early in the morning, he says, they would lead horses out to meet the rising Sun, to greet it and show it reverence. Abulensis criticizes this, but undeservedly; for Xenophon testifies that the horses of Cyrus went out to meet the Sun before sunrise in the pomp of the sacrifice, whose words I shall shortly quote. Similarly the Romans also greeted the rising Sun, which St. Leo reproves in his sermon On the Epiphany, and Plato and Plutarch testify that Socrates was accustomed to do the same, from which Plutarch asserts the proverb arose: "More worship the rising Sun than the setting." Whence some think that these horses of the Sun were those on which those rode who greeted and worshipped the rising Sun.
Third, Abulensis holds that these horses, painted or sculpted with a chariot, were suspended before the statue of the Sun, or that the statue was placed on a chariot drawn by horses. Fourth, they sacrificed and offered living horses to the Sun. Herodotus, book 1, gives the reason: that to the swiftest of the gods they wished to sacrifice also the swiftest of mortal creatures. Hear Xenophon, book 8, where he describes the triumphal procession of Cyrus from captured Babylon: "When the gates of the palace had been opened, first four of the most beautiful bulls were driven for Jupiter himself, and for certain other gods, whom the Magi had selected. After the oxen, horses, to serve as a sacrifice to the Sun. After these a white chariot was led out having a golden yoke, crowned, sacred to Jupiter. After this was led out the chariot of the Sun, white and crowned similarly to the one above. After this yet a third chariot was led out, whose horses were covered with purple cloaks, and after it men followed who carried fire on a great brazier." Hence Cyrus in Persian means the same as Sun, says Plutarch in his Life of Artaxerxes Mnemon. So Philostratus in his Heroics writes that Palamedes ordered the Greeks to sacrifice a white horse to the rising Sun.
The Jews therefore derived from neighboring peoples this worship of the Sun as a god. Moreover, that these were living horses is clear from the fact that Josiah is said to have removed them, not burned them; but to have burned the chariot of the Sun, not removed it; for if the horses had been painted and sculpted from wood, bronze, or gold, he would certainly have burned them along with the chariot. Moreover these horses of the Sun were "near the chamber of Nathan-melech the eunuch." "Nathan-melech" in Hebrew means the same as "gift of the king." This eunuch was therefore so called, to signify how highly they esteemed being a worshipper and charioteer of the Sun. For although he was merely the stable keeper and master of the stables of these horses, he was nevertheless called by the august name Nathan-melech, that is "gift of the king." The Septuagint translates: "near the treasury of Nathan the king's eunuch." Others translate: "From the chamber of Nathan-melech the eunuch;" and explain it thus, that is: From the chamber or chariot of the Sun, which is called Mathan melech, that is "the giving king;" for the Sun is the king who gives all things; the same is a Eunuch, that is beardless, since he is always young, strong, and agile. Hence they also wanted the guardian of this image of the Sun to be a eunuch, that is beardless; because such is the Sun. So Villalpandus, book 3, chapter 32, on Ezekiel chapter 40, page 221. Moreover the "chamber" was a place, verse 3, a room in which there are seats, for an assembly of people, many of which were near the temple for the priests, Levites, and others.
Tropologically, Josiah teaches us that we ought to tame and destroy idols and the horses of the Sun, that is, the unbridled impulses of the soul. Allegorically and anagogically, Josiah represents Christ, who on the day of judgment will destroy all impiety; for He will allow nothing defiled to enter heaven. So Angelomus.
Verse 13: On the Right Side of the Mount of Offense
13. On the right side of the Mount of Offense, — that is, the Mount of Olives, which was called the mount "of Offense" from the idols and shrines erected on it by Solomon; for idols and the worship of idols are the supreme injury to God and offense. Whence it is immediately added: And Chemosh the offense (that is, the idol offending God) of Moab. — Hence in Scripture an idol is called an "offense." So Eucherius and Angelomus.
Verse 14: And he Filled Their Places with the Bones of the Dead
14. And he filled their places with the bones of the dead. — For by this means a place sacred to idols was profaned, contaminated, and made vile, unclean, and horrible, especially among the Jews, who contracted legal impurity from contact with bones and corpses. Similarly the Gentiles also abhorred unburied bones and corpses. Hear Virgil, Aeneid 6: Moreover the lifeless body of your friend lies there, Alas! you know not, and defiles the whole fleet with death.
Verse 15: The Altar at Bethel Which Jeroboam Had Made
15. Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam had made (namely the shrine in which he had placed his idols, that is the golden calves, to be worshipped by all Israel) he destroyed. — For although Bethel was in Israel, not in Judah where Josiah reigned, nevertheless, since the Israelites had already been carried off from Israel to Assyria by Shalmaneser, and their king and kingdom had been overthrown, the land of Israel seemed to revert to its former lord, namely to the family of David and to Josiah king of Judah; especially because God had predicted and promised that Josiah would do this in Bethel three hundred years before, book 3, chapter 13, verse 2, and by this very fact had given Josiah the right and power to do it, indeed had ordained and commanded that he do it.
Verse 17: What is that Monument that I See?
17. What is that monument that I see? — The "monument" was the tomb of the prophet who had prophesied against Jeroboam and the golden calves placed at Bethel, and had foretold their destruction at the hands of Josiah. It is called a "monument" because it was marked with some sign, so that Josiah would know that a prophet and worshipper of the true God was buried there, and therefore would spare it. What this sign was, Scripture does not explain. Rabbi Solomon fables that from the bones of the prophet there grew plants beautiful to the sight, fragrant in smell, and healthful in use, from which Josiah gathered that those were the bones of a holy man and prophet. Others better conjecture that it was a sign of the cross, or the name Jehovah, or something similar.
Verse 20: He Killed the Priests of the High Places
20. And he killed the priests of the high places who were there upon the altars. — For when the Assyrians departed who had been devastating Samaria, many Israelite fugitives and exiles returned to their homes, and there, as before, worshipped their idols in the high places; and therefore they appointed priests to sacrifice to them, whom Josiah, zealous for the divine honor, accordingly killed, and offered up and consecrated as victims on those very altars to divine justice.
And he burned human bones upon them. — The bones both of the priests he had killed, and of earlier ones, which he took from the tombs, and burned on the altar, and thus contaminated and defiled the altar. For this had been predicted by that prophet who was killed by a lion, book 3, chapter 13, verse 10: "The man of God cried out, he says, against the altar by the word of the Lord, and said: Altar, altar, thus says the Lord: Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name, and he shall sacrifice upon you the priests of the high places, who now burn incense upon you, and he shall burn the bones of men upon you." Hence it is clear that the dead can be punished for their crimes by the burning of their bodies, with public infamy and disgrace. Whence when in the fifth ecumenical council the question was raised whether it was permitted to strike with anathema those who had long since died, Eutychius, responding in the name of the Bishop of Amasea, said his case needed neither council nor deliberation: because King Josiah had not only slain the living priests of the demons, but had also dug up the tombs of those who had been buried long before. So Nicephorus, book 17 of his History, chapter 27.
Verse 21: Keep the Passover
21. Keep the Passover, — that is, sacrifice the Paschal lamb, and the other Paschal victims, which are commanded by law to be offered during the seven days of unleavened bread, Numbers 28:16 and following. Allegorically, Josiah instituting the "Passover," most solemn, was a type of Jesus Christ, who instituted the Eucharist, indeed made Himself the "Passover," that is the Paschal lamb, according to that saying of Paul, 1 Corinthians 5: "Christ our Passover has been sacrificed. Therefore let us feast with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."
Verse 25: There was No King Before him Like him
25. There was no king before him like him, — namely with respect to the complete excision of idolatry both in Israel and in Judah, and the reformation of religion, in which matter Josiah surpassed all his predecessors, even Hezekiah; for otherwise, absolutely speaking, David seems to have been better and holier than Josiah, says Abulensis.
Verse 29: Pharaoh Necho King of Egypt Went Up
29. In his days Pharaoh Necho (that is, "the lame") king of Egypt went up against the king of the Assyrians, — to avenge the injuries inflicted on Egypt by Sennacherib, and to reclaim the spoils taken by him, especially because he saw that since the slaughter inflicted on the camp of Sennacherib by the Angel in Judea, the affairs of the Assyrians were going from bad to worse, and the Medes and Babylonians had rebelled against them. Pharaoh therefore advanced with his army to the Euphrates and Nineveh, hoping to take it; but because he had to pass through Judea, Josiah went out to meet him, fearing that he would invade and plunder Judea; and although Pharaoh asserted that he was plotting nothing against Josiah and Judea, nevertheless Josiah, not believing him, drew up a battle line against him, in which while he fought too boldly and incautiously, he was pierced by archers and fell. Moreover Abulensis entirely excuses Josiah from guilt, on the grounds that he feared that Pharaoh, if he entered Judea, would plot something against it, indeed would occupy it, so that he could not be expelled. Scripture, however, 2 Chronicles 35:22, indicates that he sinned to some extent: for although he was not obligated to believe Pharaoh when he spoke the truth, namely that he was being sent by God elsewhere, nevertheless he ought first to have consulted God, before undertaking so uncertain and dangerous a war; so Cajetan, and therefore God permitted him to be overcome and killed.
And he was killed at Megiddo. — For although Megiddo was in the territory of Manasseh and Israel, not Judah, over which Josiah presided, nevertheless Josiah also had that land subject to him, for the reason I gave in verse 15. To which Abulensis adds another, namely that the remaining Israelites after the captivity by Shalmaneser had joined themselves to the kingdom of Judah, and accepted Josiah as their king, so that joined with the Jews they would be stronger, and more easily resist the Syrians, Egyptians, and other surrounding enemies. When he saw him, — namely in battle, that is, when he engaged him in combat. Thus "to see" is taken by catachresis for "to fight," Wisdom 14:8: "Come and let us see each other," that is, come and let us fight.
Moreover, the judgment of God was wonderful, that He permitted so pious a king to be killed in the just and pious defense of Israel: for with Josiah killed, all the hope of Israel perished, and the kingdom of David and Judah was cut off. Truly "the judgments of God are a great deep." God willed to take away Josiah, so that he would not see the evils of his nation, namely the destruction of the kingdom and the temple because of the sins of the Jews, already decreed by God. St. Justin gives another reason, Question 79 to Orthodoxus, namely that Josiah had not obeyed the command of the prophet, who had told him by God's mandate not to advance to meet the king of Egypt in battle, as Jeremiah says. Therefore, so that the Lord God might receive him from this life pure from sins, He permitted him to pay the penalty for his disobedience by the Egyptian sword: as a lesson for posterity, that they should not be disobedient to prophets, and also that they might learn this: "If the just man is scarcely saved, where shall the impious man and sinner appear?" Thus far Justin. But this prophecy of Jeremiah nowhere exists, as far as I know. Allegorically, Josiah in the flower of his age fighting for his people, was a type of Jesus Christ killed by the Jews for the salvation of men in His 34th year. We shall hear more about the piety and zeal of Josiah in 2 Chronicles 34 and following. Sirach chapter 49, verse 1 and following contains a eulogy of Josiah. In a similar way God permitted St. Louis, who was trying to wrest the Holy Land from the Saracens, to be captured by them, and on his second return to die of plague, so that we may learn to esteem little the kingdoms of the earth, and to seek the heavenly kingdom, glorious and eternal, as St. Louis used to say, praising God in all his misfortune, and giving Him thanks; whence dying, looking up to heaven he sang that verse of Psalm 5: "I will enter into Your house, Lord, I will worship at Your holy temple, and I will confess Your name." Thus his Life as found in Surius, on August 25.
Verse 30: The People Took Jehoahaz the Son of Josiah
30. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah: and they anointed him. — Jehoahaz, although younger in age, for he was 23 years old, and reigned only three months, when his elder brother Jehoiakim, who was 25 years old, soon succeeded him, was nevertheless preferred in the kingdom to the elder Jehoiakim, either because he was more spirited and warlike; whence Pharaoh, fearing him, deposed him and substituted Jehoiakim; or because Jehoiakim fearing Pharaoh declined the kingdom. For Pharaoh, having defeated and killed Josiah, arrogated to himself the right of appointing kings in Judea, as is clear from what follows. 33. And Pharaoh bound him. — After killing Josiah, Pharaoh proceeded against the Assyrians, and having conducted the campaign successfully, returning victorious he subjugated the rest of Judea, and therefore having removed Jehoahaz whom the people had made king, he appointed Jehoiakim, and imposed a fine of a hundred talents of silver on Judea as if it were conquered by him; for this war was bloody, since in it Jehoahaz and the Jews had wounded and killed many Egyptians, as Ezekiel indicates, chapter 19:4; see what was said there, as also Jeremiah, chapter 22, verse 10 and following. And Pharaoh feared Jehoahaz, lest he rebel again.
Verse 34: And he Changed his Name to Jehoiakim
34. And he changed his name to Jehoiakim. — It was the custom for kings and princes conquered in war to have their names changed, and a new one imposed as a sign of subjection, as is clear from Daniel 1. Add that Jehoiakim is the same as Eliakim, for both in Hebrew signify "God will establish": for the name of God is both El, that is "strong," and Yah, which is an abbreviation of Jehovah. 37. And he did evil before the Lord, that is, he worshipped idols, moreover he greedily plundered his subjects, and was proud and ambitious, and therefore was killed by the Chaldeans, and "was buried with the burial of a donkey;" that is, he was left unburied, cast into a dung heap like a donkey, as Jeremiah teaches, chapter 22, verse 13 and following. See what was said there.