HULDAH THE PROPHETESS, IN JOSIAH'S JERUSALEM · TWO KINGDOMS

Huldah. Asked about the book found in the temple, she answered for the LORD: evil on “this place”, peace for the king.

SCRIPTURE CALLS

Prophetess

ERA

Two kingdoms 930–586 BC

IN THE DAYS OF

Josiah

BOOK

None bears the name

HOW THE WORD CAME

The king's men “went unto Huldah the prophetess … and they communed with her”.

THE CALL

How the word came

  • The king's men “went unto Huldah the prophetess … and they communed with her”. 2 Kings 22:14
  • She answered in the LORD's name: “Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Tell the man that sent you to me”. 2 Kings 22:15 2 Chronicles 34:23

BEFORE THE KINGS

Before Josiah

KING OF JUDAH

Josiah

“Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the LORD”

2 Kings 22:19 (KJV) →

THE MESSAGE

The word in its main themes

Evil upon this place

“therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched.”

2 Kings 22:17 (KJV) →

Because thine heart was tender

“thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place.”

2 Kings 22:20 (KJV) →

THE WORD TO …

To whom the word was spoken

TO THE KING'S MESSENGERS

“Tell the man that sent you to me”

2 Kings 22:15 (KJV) →

TO JOSIAH, THROUGH HIS MESSENGERS

“Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the LORD”

2 Kings 22:19 (KJV) →

  • Jerusalem · She “dwelt in Jerusalem in the college”; what that means is a question below

COMPANIONS AND OPPONENTS

Who stood with her, and against her

Shallum, her husband

Hilkiah the priest

Ahikam son of Shaphan

Shaphan the scribe

Achbor son of Michaiah

HOW THE STORY ENDS

Scripture says, tradition says

SCRIPTURE SAYS

  • From the textScripture tells nothing more of Huldah after her answer to the king. 2 Kings 22:20

TRADITION SAYS

No tradition is recorded here.

OPEN QUESTIONS

Where readers have differed

A school or house of instruction

The Targum, as reported by Ellicott and Gill; Geneva notes (1599); Matthew Poole (1683–1685)

The Geneva note: “Or the house of doctrine, which was near the temple”. Poole: “where the sons of the prophets, or others who devoted themselves to the study of God's word, used to meet”. 2 Kings 22:14 [24][83][36]

A district of the city, “the second quarter”

Ellicott's commentary; J. R. Lumby (1887); C. F. Keil (1872); the Pulpit Commentary

The Hebrew mishneh means “second”, as in “an howling from the second” (Zephaniah 1:10) and “second over the city” (Nehemiah 11:9). Ellicott: “The word really means the second part of the city”; the Revised Version reads “in the second quarter” (Lumby). 2 Kings 22:14 Zephaniah 1:10 Nehemiah 11:9 [16][74][67][95]

IN SCRIPTURE

Every passage

CHAPTERS · 3

2 Kings 22 2 Kings 23 2 Chronicles 34

PASSAGES · 3

2 Kings 22:8–20 2 Kings 23:1–3 2 Chronicles 34:14–28

WHAT SCRIPTURE DOES NOT SAY

  • Scripture names Huldah only in this one event, told in Kings and in Chronicles.
  • It does not say why she, rather than another prophet, was consulted.
  • Kings and Chronicles do not themselves say that her word came to pass; they tell Josiah's covenant, his death at Megiddo and, later, the fall of Jerusalem. 2 Kings 24:2 sends the bands against Judah “according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servants the prophets”, without naming her.

SOURCES

Where this page comes from

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