2 Chronicles 34:22

And Hilkiah, and they that the king had appointed, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college:) and they spake to her to that effect.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(22) And they that the king had appointed.—The Hebrew text is defective. We may restore it from the LXX., “and they whom the king had commanded”; or better, perhaps, from the Syriac and Vulg., “and all they whom the king sent,” Three MSS. read, “and the king’s princes,” a plausible correction. 2Kings 22:14 adds the names (2Chronicles 34:20 supra).

Son of Tikvath.—Heb., Tûkahath. Kings, “Tikvah.” The LXX., Θεκωε, the Syriac, Tekwa, and the Vulg., Thecuath, show that Tikvah or Tikvath is right. (The final h and th of Chronicles arise from blending these two equivalent spellings.)

Son of Hasrah.—Kings, son of Harhas. So the LXX., Apày; but the Syriac (Hasdâ) and Vulg. support Hasrah.

In the college.—In the second quarter y i.e., the lower city.

To that effect.—2Chronicles 32:15 (“on this manner”). Added by the chronicler. The differences in the text of the oracle which follows are mostly due to alteration of the original, which is more exactly given in Kings.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

34:1-33 Josiah's good reign in Judah. - As the years of infancy cannot be useful to our fellow-creatures, our earliest youth should be dedicated to God, that we may not waste any of the remaining short space of life. Happy and wise are those who seek the Lord and prepare for usefulness at an early age, when others are pursuing sinful pleasures, contracting bad habits, and forming ruinous connexions. Who can express the anguish prevented by early piety, and its blessed effects? Diligent self-examination and watchfulness will convince us of the deceitfulness and wickedness of our own hearts, and the sinfulness of our lives. We are here encouraged to humble ourselves before God, and to seek unto him, as Josiah did. And believers are here taught, not to fear death, but to welcome it, when it takes them away from the evil to come. Nothing hastens the ruin of a people, nor ripens them for it, more than their disregard of the attempts made for their reformation. Be not deceived, God is not mocked. The current and tide of affections only turns at the command of Him who raises up those that are dead in trespasses and sins. We behold peculiar loveliness, in the grace the Lord bestows on those, who in tender years seek to know and to love the Saviour. Hath Jesus, the Day-spring from on high, visited you? Can you trace your knowledge of this light and life of man, like Josiah, from your youth? Oh the unspeakable happiness of becoming acquainted with Jesus from our earliest years!

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For them, that are left in Israel and in Judah - Compare the words in Kings 2 Kings 22:13. in both records the intention is to show that the king regarded the ten tribes as being under his care, no less than the two.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

2Ch 34:19-33. And, Causing the Law to Be Read, Renews the Covenant between God and the People.

19. when the king had heard the words of the law, &c.—(See on [475]2Ki 22:11-20; [476]23:1-3).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the Lord,.... The Levites, who brought it out of the country into the temple, and from thence brought it to the high priest, who delivering it to the king's ministers, and they to the overseers, the repairs were begun:

and then Hilkiah the high priest found a book of the law of the Lord given by Moses house of the Lord,.... The Levites, who brought it out of the country into the temple, and from thence brought it to the high priest, who delivering it to the king's ministers, and they to the overseers, the repairs were begun: See Gill on 2 Kings 22:8. From hence, to the end of 2 Chronicles 34:28, is the same as 2 Kings 22:8.

Geneva Study Bible

And Hilkiah, and they that the king had appointed, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the {m} wardrobe;

(now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the {n} college:) and they spake to her to that effect.

(m) Meaning, either of the priests apparel or the kings.

(n) Read 2Ki 22:15.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

22. they that the king had appointed] R.V. they whom the king had commanded. The verb âmar has seemingly fallen out of the Heb. text.

the prophetess] This title is given to Miriam (Exodus 15:20), Deborah (Jdg 4:4), Anna (Luke 2:36); cp. also Nehemiah 6:14; Revelation 2:20.

Tikvath] R.V. Tokhath. In 2 Kin. “Tikvah.”

Hasrah] In 2 Kin. “Harhas.”

keeper of the wardrobe] Lit. “keeper of the garments.” The Heb. word for garments (bĕgâdim) is applied to a king’s robes (2 Chronicles 18:29), to a high priest’s vestments (Exodus 28:2; Exodus 28:4), and to clothes in general; it is therefore not easy to say what office precisely is here referred to. Some in consideration of 2 Kings 10:22 have thought that the garments here meant were ecclesiastical and not royal.

in the college] R.V. in the second quarter; so Zephaniah 1:10 (R.V.). A second, newer division of the city seems to be meant, but precisely what part is not known. Cp. Nehemiah 11:9 (with Ryle’s note on second over the city).

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 22. - The question may suggest itself, Why was not Jeremiah (2 Chronicles 35:25; 2 Chronicles 36:21) at once consulted? Probably he was at Anathoth, and not immediately accessible. Tikvath. In Hebrew, Tokhath; and in parallel, Tikvah. Hasrah. In parallel, Harhas. In the college; Revised Version, following Hebrew, in the (Mishneh) second quarter (see Zephaniah 1:10; Conder's 'Handbook to the Bible,' p. 342). Nothing is known of Huldah, nor of Shallum her husband, except what lies in this and the parallel place. 2 Chronicles 34:22

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The dismay of the king at the contents of the book which was read to him, and his inquiry of the prophetess Huldah as to the judgments threatened in the law. - Compare with this the parallel account in 2 Kings 22:11-20, with the commentary there given, as both accounts agree with the exception of some unimportant variations in expression. Instead of Abdon ben Micah (2 Chronicles 34:20) we find in 2 Kings chbor ben Micayahu, perhaps the correct reading. In 2 Chronicles 34:21, the expression, "and for those that are left in Israel and Judah," i.e., for the remainder of the people who were left in Israel after the destruction of the kingdom, and in Judah after the divine chastisements inflicted, mainly by the Assyrians under Hezekiah and Manasseh, is clearer and more significant than that in 2 Kings 22:13, "and for the people, and for all Judah." נתּכה, to pour itself forth (of anger), is quite as suitable as נצּתה, inflame, kindle itself, in 2 Kings 22:13. In 2 Chronicles 34:22, those sent with the high priest Hilkiah are briefly designated by the words המּלך ואשׁר, and whom the king, scil. had sent; in 2 Kings 22:14, on the contrary, the individual names are recorded (Ewald, Gramm. 292, b, would supply אמר, after the lxx). The names of the ancestors of the prophetess Huldah also are somewhat different. כּזאת, as the king had said to him, is omitted in 2 Kings. In 2 Chronicles 34:24, כּל־האלות, all the curses, is more significant than כּל־דּברי, 2 Kings 22:16. ותּתּך (2 Chronicles 34:25) is a statement of the result of the עזבוּני: Because they have forsaken me, my anger pours itself forth. In 2 Chronicles 34:27, the rhetorical expansion of the words which God had spoken of Jerusalem in the law, וגו לשׁמּה להיות, inserted in 2 Kings 22:19 as an elucidation, are omitted. After the preceding designation of these words as "the curses written in the law," any further elucidation was superfluous. On the contents of the saying of the prophetess Huldah, see the commentary on 2 Kings 22:16.