2 Kings 23:25

Upon the reading of these verses we must say, Lord, though thy righteousness be as the great mountains - evident, conspicuous, and past dispute, yet thy judgments are a great deep, unfathomable and past finding out, Psa 36:6. What shall we say to this?

I. It is here owned that Josiah was one of the best kings that ever sat upon the throne of David, Kg2 23:25. As Hezekiah was a non-such for faith and dependence upon God in straits (Kg2 18:5), so Josiah was a non-such for sincerity and zeal in carrying on a work of reformation. For this there was none like him, 1. That he turned to the Lord from whom his fathers had revolted. It is true religion to turn to God as one we have chosen and love. He did what he could to turn his kingdom also to the Lord. 2. That he did this with his heart and soul; his affections and aims were right in what he did. Those make nothing of their religion that do not make heart-work of it. 3. That he did it with all his heart, and all his soul, and all his might - with vigour, and courage, and resolution: he could not otherwise have broken through the difficulties he had to grapple with. What great things may we bring to pass in the service of God if we be but lively and hearty in it! 4. That he did this according to all the law of Moses, in an exact observance of that law and with an actual regard to it. His zeal did not transport him into any irregularities, but, in all he did, he walked by rule.

II. Notwithstanding this he was cut off by a violent death in the midst of his days, and his kingdom was ruined within a few years after. Consequent upon such a reformation as this, one would have expected nothing but the prosperity and glory both of king and kingdom; but, quite contrary, we find both under a cloud. 1. Even the reformed kingdom continues marked for ruin. For all this (Kg2 23:26) the Lord turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath. That is certainly true, which God spoke by the prophet (Jer 18:7, Jer 18:8), that if a nation, doomed to destruction, turn from the evil of sin, God will repent of the evil of punishment; and therefore we must conclude that Josiah's people, though they submitted to Josiah's power, did not heartily imbibe Josiah's principles. They were turned by force, and did not voluntarily turn from their evil way, but still continued their affection for their idols; and therefore he that knows men's hearts would not recall the sentence, which was, That Judah should be removed, as Israel had been, and Jerusalem itself cast off, Kg2 23:27. Yet even this destruction was intended to be their effectual reformation; so that we must say, not only that the criminals had filled their measure and were ripe for ruin, but also that the disease had come to a crisis, and was ready for a cure; and this shall be all the fruit, even the taking away of sin. 2. As an evidence of this, even the reforming king is cut off in the midst of his usefulness - in mercy to him, that he might not see the evil which was coming upon his kingdom, but in wrath to his people, for his death was an inlet to their desolations. The king of Egypt waged war, it seems, with the king of Assyria: so the king of Babylon is now called. Josiah's kingdom lay between them. He therefore thought himself concerned to oppose the king of Egypt, and check the growing, threatening, greatness of his power; for though, at this time, he protested that he had no design against Josiah, yet, if he should prevail to unite the river of Egypt and the river Euphrates, the land of Judah would soon be overflowed between them. Therefore Josiah went against him, and was killed in the first engagement, Kg2 23:29, Kg2 23:30. Here, (1.) We cannot justify Josiah's conduct. He had no clear call to engage in this war, nor do we find that he asked counsel of God by urim or prophets concerning it. What had he to do to appear and act as a friend and ally to the king of Assyria? Should he help the ungodly and love those that hate the Lord? If the kings of Egypt and Assyria quarrelled, he had reason to think God would bring good out of it to him and his people, by making them instrumental to weaken one another. Some understand the promise made to him that he should come to his grave in peace in a sense in which it was not performed because, by his miscarriage in this matter, he forfeited the benefit of it. God has promised to keep us in all our ways; but, if we go out of our way, we throw ourselves out of his protection. I understand the promise so as that I believe it was fulfilled, for he died in peace with God and his own conscience, and saw not, nor had any immediate prospect of, the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem by the Chaldeans; yet I understand the providence to be a rebuke to him for his rashness. (2.) We must adore God's righteousness in taking away such a jewel from an unthankful people that knew not how to value it. They greatly lamented his death (Ch2 35:25), urged to it by Jeremiah, who told them the meaning of it, and what a threatening omen it was; but they had not made a due improvement of the mercies they enjoyed by his life, of which God taught them the worth by the want.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

2Ki 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.

Ver. 25. And like unto him was there no king, &c.] He was a matchless man, a peerless prince, the world’s paragon,

“ Hic regum decus et iuvenum flos, spesque bonorum.

Deliciae saecli et gloria gentis erat. ”

As Cardan singeth of our Edward VI, a second Josiah, as all good men acknowledged. See 2Ki 18:5.

And with all his might.] Heb., With his utmost vehemency, strength, and diligence; he did all that he could do.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Ki_23:25-37

And like unto him there was no king before him.

Josiahs reformation

This and the previous chapter show us the influence of a godly sovereign. This prince at the age of twenty-six begins to repair the house of God. This leads to the discovery of the long-lost book of the law. At once Josiah obeys its teaching. He consults Huldah, and receives the Lords message. Finding himself exempted from vengeance on account of his repentance, he endeavours to lead his people to obtain the same exemption, and for this purpose institutes a thorough national reformation. This, we read, consisted of

(1) purifying the temple of idolatrous vessels;

(2) putting down all idolatrous teachers;

(3) defiling all idol altars throughout the land;

(4) keeping the Passover in a solemn manner. From this we may learn--

I. That personal reformation springs from a knowledge of Gods word applied to the heart by faith. It was this that influenced Josiah (Psa_119:130). The entrance of Thy word giveth light (Act_17:11-12). Therefore many believed.

II. That true personal reformation consists of doing and undoing.

1. Undoing old associations, by--

(1) Looking sin in the face, and comparing ourselves with our pattern, by the light of Gods written Word (Php_2:5, etc.).

(2) Cleansing the temple of God (2Co_6:16) of all that defiles.

(3) Giving up all people, practices, and places which tempt to sin; e.g. cards, novels, balls, etc.: let each conscience decide for itself.

2. Doing, by--

(1) Entering into a solemn covenant with God to obey Him, etc.; confirmation.

(2) Publicly, as well as privately, keeping His commandments and wishes; Holy Communion.

III. That personal reformation has results:

1. Comfort and peace to those who carry it out. For thirty years Josiahs reign was a peaceful and happy one to himself. So soul-reformation brings peace to the believer.

2. A blessing, though it may be only a temporary one, to those who, even outwardly, take part in it. The punishment pronounced upon the land was deferred (2Ki_22:20) till after Josiahs death, and a believer brings blessings on those around him.

3. The fulfilment of Gods word (2Ki_23:16 and Isa_5:11). The Christian rejoices in the fulfilment of Mat_11:28-30. But notice two warnings:

1. No personal reformation can be effected without the guidance and grace of the Holy Spirit (Joh_16:8, etc.; Zec_4:6).

2. Personal piety cannot stop national punishment (of. Zec_3:2). Josiah has a grand epitaph written over him (verse 25) by the finger of God. May much be ours! (J. W. Mills, M. A.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Ki 23:25. Like unto him was there no king before him — For his diligent study in God’s law, and his exact care, and unwearied industry, and fervent zeal, in rooting out idolaters, and all kinds and appearances of idolatry, not only in Judah, but in Israel also; and in the establishment of the true religion in all his dominions, and in the conforming of his own life, and his people’s too, (as far as he could,) to the holy law of God: though Hezekiah might excel him in some particulars.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES.—

2Ki_23:26. Notwithstanding the Lord turned not—The nation’s heart was not changed by all this fervour of the king and the reformation of external worship. Jeremiah’s ministry during Josiah’s reign shows the gross moral corruption and total spiritual falsity of this hopelessly apostate people.

2Ki_23:28-30. Josiah slain at Megiddo—Necho, the son of Psammeticus, ascended the throne of Egypt in the twentieth year of Josiah. The two rival monarchies of Egypt and Assyria were then still struggling for ascendancy. Palestine was a coveted frontier territory. From Manasseh’s time Juda’ was tributary to Assyria, and Josiah felt necessitated to rally to Assyria’s side against Necho of Egypt. On the Egyptian monarch’s way to Charchemish, by the Euphrates, Josiah intercepted his line of advance by meeting his in the great vale of Migeddo, in the plain of Esdraelon. Although Necho remonstrated (Chronicles account), yet Josiah opposed him, and was slain.

2Ki_23:31-34. Jehoahaz—It was the people’s act to raise Shallum, Josiah’s youngest son, afterwards named Jehoahaz, to the throne in preference to his elder brother Eliakim. This popular choice may be accounted for by Shallum’s military spirit (Eze_19:3), and his resolute opposition to the Egyptian monarchy; for there were two parties in the Jewish state, the one favouring allegiance with Assyria, the other with Egypt. He was quickly deposed by Necho.

2Ki_23:34-37. Eliakim, named Jehoiakim by Pharoah-Necho, followed an evil course, and was a reckless ruler. Jeremiah portrays his character most vividly (2Ki_22:13-19).—W. H. J.

HOMILETICS OF 2Ki_23:25-37

FAILURE IN THE WORK OF REFORMATION

I. That the work of Reformation may fail, notwithstanding the exemplary character of the principal agent (2Ki_23:25). High praise is here accorded to Josiah. It is usually maintained that Hezekiah equalled or surpassed him in trusting Jehovah (2Ki_18:5), but that he excelled Hezekiah in his scrupulous adherence to the minute details of the Mosaic law. It is, however, evident from this verse that Josiah was also conspicuous for his trust in Jehovah, for he turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might. The eulogy of Josiah, as of Hezekiah, may be regarded as a passage worded after the manner of oriental hyperbole, not to be literally understood, but as intended to distinguish a person who was gifted with specially great qualities. Josiah was the best character that age could produce, and was the fittest to grapple with the abuses that others deplored, but were powerless to rectify. With all the high personal qualifications and supreme royal influence possessed by Josiah, his reforming work was not permanently successful. He was not the first, or the last, great man who has attempted a great and much-needed reform, and failed.

II. That the work of Reformation fails when it does not prevent the accomplishment of the threatened doom (2Ki_23:26-27).—After all the colossal and drastic efforts of Josiah to remove the dark curse that lowered over his kingdom and people, we learn from these verses the fateful sentence is still unrepealed. The evil was too deep and inveterate to be easily eradicated. By a comparatively early death, the good king was removed from the evil to come. Scarcely had the wail of lamentation for the popular monarch died away, ere the people relapsed into their former sins. The nation sank into deeper gloom, and the vial of Divine wrath, so long and patiently restrained, was at length poured out. The position of Judah at this time was similar to that of the Netherlands when William the Silent retired for a time from his loved Fatherland, which he felt himself unable to save, and a thunderbolt burst upon the land in the savage onslaught of the Duke of Alva and his butchering army—the thunderbolt that ultimately fell on Israel being Sennacherib and his victorious legions.

III. That the work of Reformation fails when it does not raise up competent agents to perpetuate its policy (2Ki_23:28-37).—Josiah left no successor, either clerical or lay. The priests whose cause he had so bravely championed, had not the ability, or the will, to press forward the good work; and his two sons—Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim—who held the sceptre but as vassals under the dominating authority of the Egyptian monarch, showed their dislike to their father’s reforming work by throwing in their lot with the opposing party. They forsook the God of their father, and became idolaters. A great work of genuine reform usually creates its own agents, who perpetuate and consolidate the work, when the pioneer advocate is no more; and there must have been something defective about the plans and methods of Hezekiah’s work that failed to do this. “Reformation,” says Sir Joshua Reynolds, “is a work of time. A national taste, however wrong it may be, cannot be totally changed at once; we must yield a little to the prepossession which has taken hold on the mind, and we may then bring people to adopt what would offend them if endeavoured to be introduced by violence.”

IV. That the work of Reformation fails when it does not thoroughly penetrate the heart and life of every member of the community.—Reform, to be real and abiding, must be personal, convincing the judgment, biassing the will, changing the spirit. “Reform, like charity, must begin at home. Once well at home, how will it radiate outwards, irrepressible, into all that we touch and handle, speak and work; kindling ever new light by incalculable contagion, spreading in geometric ratio, far and wide, doing good only wherever it spreads, and not evil” (Carlyle). National evils are thoroughly cured only so far as the individual is morally transformed and exalted.

LESSONS:—

1. The mightiest efforts of reform may come too late.

2. The failure of any worthy effort is an occasion of sincere sorrow to the good.

3. Failure should lead to self-examination and more complete trust in God.

GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES

2Ki_23:25-28. We cannot doubt that the sanguinary acts of Josiah, no less than of Elijah and Jehu, are condemned by Him in whom was fulfilled the spirit of the true Deuteronomy, the Revived Law, which the impetuous king carried out only in its external observances, and by its own hard measures. It was the first direct persecution that the kingdom of Judah had witnessed on behalf of the True Religion. Down to this time the mournful distinction had been reserved for the half-Pagan king Manasseh. But cruelty had here, as in all like cases, provoked a corresponding cruelty; and the reformation of Josiah, if from his youth and zeal it has suggested his likeness to our Edward VI., by its harsher features encouraged the rough acts which disfigured so many of the last efforts of that and other like movements of the Christian Church. But, in spite of all this effort, the kingdom of Judah was doomed. Perhaps the very vehemence of the attempt carried with it its own inefficacy. Even the traditions which invested Josiah with a blaze of preternatural glory, maintained that in his day the sacred oil was for ever lost. Too late is written on the pages even which described his momentary revival. It did not reach the deeply-seated, wide-spread corruption which tainted rich and poor alike.—Stanley.

2Ki_23:26-27. The downward course of sin.

1. May reach a depth from which recovery is hopeless.

2. The best considered efforts of reform may fail to arrest.

3. Sinks at last to its inevitable doom.

2Ki_23:29-30. The hope of Judah.

1. Rose to its brightest zenith amid the reforming efforts of Josiah.

2. Was quenched in that monarch’s death.

3. Rose no more in the history of the kingdom.

4. Will revive and burst into perfect glory, only under the sceptre of the Messiah-King.

—The early death of the king was no punishment for him, for he was thus gathered in peace to his fathers; but it was a chastisement for his unrepentant people, who now lamented him, and saw, when it was too late, what noble purposes he had had in their behalf.

2Ki_23:30. His fall caused a universal mourning. Jeremiah wrote a lamentation for him (Lam_4:20). His loss formed the burden of regular songs even after the captivity, when “the mourning of Hadad-rimmon in the valley of Megiddon” was still the type of the deepest national affliction (Zec_12:11). “Well might such feelings be excited by the battle of Megiddo. That great valley of Esdraelon, the lists of Palestine, the scene of the great victories of Barak and of Gideon, was now stained with a second defeat more disastrous than that in which Saul lost his life. Then it had witnessed the fall of the short-lived dynasty of the people’s choice, but now it saw the virtual end of the earthly monarchy of the house of David. Hence may be traced the mystic significance which surrounds the name of this battlefield. The prophet Zechariah employs the mourning of Megiddo as a type of the more wholesome sorrow of Judah, in the day when God shall pour out upon them the spirit of grace and prayer, as a preparation for His final destruction of all the nations that come up against Jerusalem; and his imagery is adopted in the visions of the Apocalypse. On the very scene of the two most signal defeats of Israel and Judah by their most inveterate enemies, the Philistines and Egypt, the seer beholds the mystic “Battle of Armageddon,” which avenges all such defeats by the final overthrow of the kings of all the world in the great day of God Almighty” (Zec_12:9-14; Rev_16:14-16).—Dr. Smith’s Student’s Scripture History.

—What eye doth not now pity and lament the untimely end of Josiah? Whom can it choose but affect to see a religious, just, virtuous prince, snatched away in the vigour of his age? After all our foolish moan, the Providence that directed that shaft to his lighting place, intends that wound for a stroke of mercy. The God whom Josiah serves, looks through his death at his glory, and by this sudden violence will deliver him from the view and participation of the miseries of Judah. O the wonderful goodness of the Almighty, whose very judgments are merciful! O the safe condition of God’s children, whom very pain easeth, whom death revives, whom dissolution unites, whom their very sin and temptation glorifies!—Bp. Hall.

2Ki_23:31-37. Royal automata.

1. Divested of personal freedom and power, and manipulated by a grasping and imperious will (2Ki_23:33-35).

2. Imitating with mechanical helplessness and precision the worst features of wicked predecessors (2Ki_23:32-37).

3. Maintained by the privations and sufferings of their subjects (2Ki_23:35).

4. Indicate a lowering of natural spirit and prestige.

2Ki_23:32. The reassertive power of sin.

1. Repressed for a time by the influence of public reformation.

2. Ready to take advantage of the slightest relaxation of restraint.

3. Defiantly awaits its unavoidable punishment.

2Ki_23:35. “He exacted the silver and the gold of the people.” Though he received likely from the subjects no less sums of curses than of coin.—Trapp.

2Ki_23:37. Jehoiakin was a most unprincipled and oppressive tyrant. Jeremiah sternly rebukes his injustice and oppression, his cruelty and avarice, and his reckless luxury in building himself a magnificent palace; and contrasts all this with his father’s justice to the poor (Jer_22:13-19). In the Chronicles his name is dismissed with an allusion to “all the abominations that he did.” To all his other evils he added this, that he slew Urijah, the prophet (Jer_26:20; Jer_26:23).

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 25. Like unto him was there no king] Perhaps not one from the time of David; and, morally considered, including David himself, none ever sat on the Jewish throne, so truly exemplary in his own conduct, and so thoroughly zealous in the work of God. David was a greater but not a better man than Josiah.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(25) And. like unto him was there no king before him.—Comp. 2Ki_18:5-6, where a similar eulogy is passed upon Hezekiah. It is not, perhaps, necessary to insist upon any formal contradiction which may appear to result from a comparison of the two passages. A writer would not be careful to measure his words by the rule of strict proportion in such cases. Still, as the preceding account indicates, the Mosaic law does not appear to have been so rigorously carried out by any preceding king as by Josiah. (See Note on 2Ch_30:26.)

With all his heart . . .—An echo of Deu_6:5. That Josiah’s merits did not merely consist in a strict observance of the legitimate worship and ritual, is evident from Jer_22:15-16, where he is praised for his righteousness as a judge.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

25. no king before him] For before the kingdom was established the religious strictness of the people had greatly degenerated, and even the best rulers never were so solemnly recalled to the legal regulations as Josiah was by the discovery of the temple-copy of the Law. The next verse makes it clear why there was no such good king after Josiah. The evil doings of Manasseh had corrupted the nation past redemption. The reforms of Josiah lasted not nearly so long.

‘The evil that men do lives after them:

The good is oft interred with their bones.’

We have now come to the last mention of the book which was found in the temple and of its influence. From the allusions to its contents we can see that it must have contained such threatenings against neglect of the Law as are found in Deuteronomy; such injunctions for the putting down of idolatry and its attendant superstitions as we have now in Deuteronomy and Leviticus, and such ordinances concerning the observance of the passover as are found in Exodus and in Numbers. Without saying therefore that the book was in the form which we now possess (for that probably underwent revision in the days of Ezra and even later), yet there was in it that which represented for that time the same code and regulations as we have now in the books of Moses, from which it is seen that the portions read by Josiah and Shaphan were substantially derived. It is to be supposed that modifications would be here and there introduced into the regulations, both for civil and religious observances, according to the changed circumstances of the people. But these would only be made by persons acting in the spirit of the great lawgiver, and endued with zeal for God’s service as he was, and therefore everything thus included would continue to be called, as it continued to be in spirit, the law of Moses.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the Lord said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel. Not from his all seeing eye, but from being the object of his special care and protection; the meaning is, that he would suffer them to he carried out of their land into captivity as Israel was; this he had said in his heart, was determined upon; the decree was gone forth, and it was irrevocable:

and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen: for the place of his worship, the people having forsaken his worship there, and followed after idols:

and the house of which I said, my name shall be there; the temple, called after his name, and where his name was to be, and had been, called upon.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

And like unto him ... - See 2Ki 18:5 note. We must not press the letter of either passage, but regard both kings as placed among the very best of the kings of Judah.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Like him. Every person has some peculiarity, which distinguishes him from every other. (Haydock) --- Thus we say of many saints: There was none found like unto him, Ecclesiasticus xliv. 20. (Tirinus)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Like unto him there was no king before him, to wit, for his diligent study in God’s law, and his exact care, and unwearied industry, and fervent zeal, in rooting out of idolaters, and all kinds and appearances of idolatry, not only in Judah, but in Israel also; and in the establishment of the true religion in all his dominions, and in the conforming of his own life, and his people’s too, (as far as he could,) to the holy law of God; though Hezekiah might excel him in some other particulars; of whom therefore the like is said above, 2Ki 18:5.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

25. Like unto him was there no king before him — It is commonly held that Hezekiah equalled or surpassed him in trusting Jehovah, (2Ki_18:5,) but that he excelled Hezekiah in his scrupulous adherence to all the law of Moses. But see note on 2Ki_18:5.

Josiah was the last true theocratic king of Judah, and, from the great events belonging to his reign, as well as his profoundly earnest effort to extirpate idolatry from all Israel, his name and memory are highly panegyrized in the annals of his people. “The remembrance of Josiah,” says the son of Sirach, “is like the composition of the perfume that is made by the art of the apothecary; it is sweet as honey in all mouths, and as music at a banquet of wine. He behaved himself uprightly in the conversation of the people, and took away the abominations of iniquity. He directed his heart unto the Lord, and in the time of the ungodly he established the worship of God. Except David, Hezekiah, and Josiah, all were defective.” Sir_49:1-4.

Josiah’s reformation is open to criticism, for its methods of violence were such as have ever characterized religious persecutions, and it failed, as the subsequent history shows, to effect any permanent change in the nation for the better. “Large as is the space occupied by it in the historical books,” says Stanley, “by the contemporary prophets it is never mentioned at all.”

It may therefore be held up as signal evidence and admonition that violent measures are useless to effect a genuine or permanent reformation. But we must not judge Josiah’s work by the standards of our Christian age. What other or milder measures could we rationally expect a Jewish king of that age to have thought of? “Judaism,” says Sumner, (in Schaff’s Lange,) “had intolerance as one of its fundamental principles. Violence in support of Jehovah’s religion was a duty of a Jewish king. In attempting to account for and understand the conduct of Josiah, it would be as senseless to expect him to see and practice toleration as to expect him to use firearms against Necho. We can never carry back modern principles into ancient times and judge men by the standards of to-day.”

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And like unto him was there no king before him. (see the comment on 2Ki_18:5) The writer of Kings cannot be said to place Josiah above Hezekiah, or Hezekiah above Josiah. He accords them the same degree of praise, but, in Hezekiah"s case, dwells upon his trust in God; in Josiah"s, upon his exact obedience to the Law. On the whole, his judgment accords very closely with that of the son of Sirach (Ecc 49:4). "All, except David and Ezekias and Josias, were defective: for they forsook the Law of the Most High." That turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might. This triple enumeration is intended to include the whole moral and mental nature of man, all the energies of his understanding, his will, and his physical vitality. (see the comment on Deu_6:5 a passage which is in the writer"s mind) According to all the Law of Moses. This is an indication that, in the writer"s view, the whole Law was contained in the book found by Hilkiah. Neither after him arose there any like him. This is but moderate praise, since the four kings who reigned after him Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah were, one and all, wicked princes.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

No king - For his diligent study in God's law, and his exact care, and unwearied industry, and fervent zeal, in rooting out idolators, and all kinds and appearances of idolatry, not only in Judah, but in Israel also; and in the establishment of the true religion in all his dominions, and in the conforming of his own life, and his peoples too, (as far as he could) to the holy law of God: though Hezekiah might excel him in some particulars.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.