Josiah

Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:

(God-healed). (1) Son and successor of Amon on throne of Judah, B. C. 641-610. He abolished idolatry, propagated the newly discovered law, aided Assyria against Egypt, and fell in the celebrated battle of Esdraelon (2 Kings 22-23:1-30; 2 Chron. 34-35). (2) Son of Zephaniah (Zech. 6:10¹⁰Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah, which are come from Babylon, and come thou the same day, and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah; (Zechariah 6:10)).

Concise Bible Dictionary:

1. Son and successor of Amon king of Judah: he reigned thirty-one years (B.C. 641-610). He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord. He began to reign when eight years old, and at the age of sixteen he sought after God. When he was about twenty years old he began to destroy all the high places, and groves, and images, and altars. He burnt the bones of the priests of Baalim upon their altars, as foretold in 1 Kings 13:2²And he cried against the altar in the word of the Lord, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee. (1 Kings 13:2). These things he did not only in Judah but also in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali (2 Kings 22:1-2¹Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Boscath. ²And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left. (2 Kings 22:1‑2); 2 Chron. 34:1-7¹Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years. ²And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left. ³For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images. ⁴And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, that were on high above them, he cut down; and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust of them, and strowed it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them. ⁵And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. ⁶And so did he in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali, with their mattocks round about. ⁷And when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem. (2 Chronicles 34:1‑7)).

In the eighteenth year of Josiah, the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were kept. The ark was restored to its place in the temple, from which apparently it had been removed for some purpose. The testimony is that “there was no Passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet.” Thus was Josiah enabled to recall the people to a sense of their responsibility, and to the means of their communion with God in the ordinance of the Passover (2 Kings 23:21-28²¹And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the passover unto the Lord your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant. ²²Surely there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah; ²³But in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, wherein this passover was holden to the Lord in Jerusalem. ²⁴Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. ²⁵And 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. ²⁶Notwithstanding the Lord turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal. ²⁷And the Lord said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there. ²⁸Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? (2 Kings 23:21‑28); 2 Chron. 35:1-19¹Moreover Josiah kept a passover unto the Lord in Jerusalem: and they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month. ²And he set the priests in their charges, and encouraged them to the service of the house of the Lord, ³And said unto the Levites that taught all Israel, which were holy unto the Lord, Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel did build; it shall not be a burden upon your shoulders: serve now the Lord your God, and his people Israel, ⁴And prepare yourselves by the houses of your fathers, after your courses, according to the writing of David king of Israel, and according to the writing of Solomon his son. ⁵And stand in the holy place according to the divisions of the families of the fathers of your brethren the people, and after the division of the families of the Levites. ⁶So kill the passover, and sanctify yourselves, and prepare your brethren, that they may do according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses. ⁷And Josiah gave to the people, of the flock, lambs and kids, all for the passover offerings, for all that were present, to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand bullocks: these were of the king's substance. ⁸And his princes gave willingly unto the people, to the priests, and to the Levites: Hilkiah and Zechariah and Jehiel, rulers of the house of God, gave unto the priests for the passover offerings two thousand and six hundred small cattle, and three hundred oxen. ⁹Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and Nethaneel, his brethren, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, chief of the Levites, gave unto the Levites for passover offerings five thousand small cattle, and five hundred oxen. ¹⁰So the service was prepared, and the priests stood in their place, and the Levites in their courses, according to the king's commandment. ¹¹And they killed the passover, and the priests sprinkled the blood from their hands, and the Levites flayed them. ¹²And they removed the burnt offerings, that they might give according to the divisions of the families of the people, to offer unto the Lord, as it is written in the book of Moses. And so did they with the oxen. ¹³And they roasted the passover with fire according to the ordinance: but the other holy offerings sod they in pots, and in caldrons, and in pans, and divided them speedily among all the people. ¹⁴And afterward they made ready for themselves, and for the priests: because the priests the sons of Aaron were busied in offering of burnt offerings and the fat until night; therefore the Levites prepared for themselves, and for the priests the sons of Aaron. ¹⁵And the singers the sons of Asaph were in their place, according to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the king's seer; and the porters waited at every gate; they might not depart from their service; for their brethren the Levites prepared for them. ¹⁶So all the service of the Lord was prepared the same day, to keep the passover, and to offer burnt offerings upon the altar of the Lord, according to the commandment of king Josiah. ¹⁷And the children of Israel that were present kept the passover at that time, and the feast of unleavened bread seven days. ¹⁸And there was no passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a passover as Josiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel that were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁹In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah was this passover kept. (2 Chronicles 35:1‑19)).

In the thirty-first year of his reign, Josiah, perhaps from fidelity to former treaties with Assyria, went out to oppose the king of Egypt when he himself was in no way attacked; and, though warned “from the mouth of God,” he persisted in his purpose. He disguised himself, yet he was wounded and died. Jeremiah lamented for him, and the singers also in their songs (2 Chron. 35:20-26²⁰After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by Euphrates: and Josiah went out against him. ²¹But he sent ambassadors to him, saying, What have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah? I come not against thee this day, but against the house wherewith I have war: for God commanded me to make haste: forbear thee from meddling with God, who is with me, that he destroy thee not. ²²Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself, that he might fight with him, and hearkened not unto the words of Necho from the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo. ²³And the archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to his servants, Have me away; for I am sore wounded. ²⁴His servants therefore took him out of that chariot, and put him in the second chariot that he had; and they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. ²⁵And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel: and, behold, they are written in the lamentations. ²⁶Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and his goodness, according to that which was written in the law of the Lord, (2 Chronicles 35:20‑26)). His reign was like the last shining of God’s lamp in Judah: though he had zealously followed the Lord, the heart of the people was not changed (Jer. 3:6-10⁶The Lord said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot. ⁷And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it. ⁸And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also. ⁹And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks. ¹⁰And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the Lord. (Jeremiah 3:6‑10): Compare Zephaniah). In Matthew 1:10-11 The name is JOSIAS.

2. Son of Zephaniah, at whose house Zechariah assembled the chief men of the captivity when Joshua the son of Josedech was crowned (Zech. 6:10¹⁰Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah, which are come from Babylon, and come thou the same day, and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah; (Zechariah 6:10)).

Strong’s Dictionary of Hebrew Words:

Number:

2977 (find all occurrences in KJV Bible)

Transliteration:

Yo’shiyah

Phonic:

yo-shee-yaw’

Meaning:

or {yo-she-yaw'-hoo}; from the same root as 803 and 3050; founded of Jah; Joshijah, the name of two Israelites

KJV Usage:

Josiah

Jackson’s Dictionary of Scripture Proper Names:

he will be sustained of Jehovah

Potts’ Bible Proper Names:

The Lord gives; Jehovah-heals:―the name of two Israelites [JOSIAS], 1 Kings 13:2. {Donat Dominas}

Josiah

Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:

Concise Bible Dictionary:

Strong’s Dictionary of Hebrew Words:

Jackson’s Dictionary of Scripture Proper Names:

Potts’ Bible Proper Names:

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