2 Kings 22:8-9

DISCOVERY OF THE BOOK OF THE LAW, 2 Kings 22:8-11.

8. I have found the book of the law The traditional and most probable meaning is, that this was the same book of the law (or a true and complete copy of it) which Moses wrote and ordered the Levite-priests to deposit and keep in the side of the ark of God, (Deuteronomy 31:9; Deuteronomy 31:24; Deuteronomy 31:26) the entire Pentateuch. Against this traditional belief and most obvious sense of the words, the bare assumption that it was only our present book of Deuteronomy, or a digest of the laws of Moses, is destitute of any force. The statement in 2 Chronicles 34:14, that it was the book of the law of Jehovah by the hand of Moses, has led many to believe that it was the ancient autograph copy which came from the hand of the great lawgiver. This, Kitto thinks, was one reason why its discovery made such an extraordinary impression “an impression which may in part, though still imperfectly, be understood by him who has been privileged to examine some one of the most ancient manuscripts of the Scriptures now existing; and whom the very oldness of the vellum, and the antique style of the writing, with the knowledge of the long ages through which its existence may be traced, seem to take back so much nearer to the time of the writer, and give a vividness to his impressions of ancient truth which no modern copy can impart.”

It is certainly possible, and, indeed, probable, that the original copy of the law might have existed in Josiah’s time, having been long concealed in some secret place of the temple. But it is not likely that this was the only copy of the law then in existence, and the finding of it by Hilkiah was not the discovery of something which had never before been heard of, and which had now, for the first time, come to light. We naturally infer from the course of the history that during the last great apostasy of more than half a century (from the beginning of Manasseh’s reign even up to this eighteenth year of Josiah seventy-five years) the book of the law had been utterly neglected, and the knowledge of it existed only as a tradition among the better classes of the people. Copies probably existed here and there, especially among the prophets, but they were not generally known, and their owners may have been careful to keep their existence a secret.

In what part of the temple the book was found is a question that cannot be answered. It had probably been concealed, during a period of apostasy and persecution, by some faithful priest, who feared that the growing wickedness and the impious sacrilege of his age might destroy the sacred treasure.