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position of "the prophetess." Why a Jeremiah or a Zephaniah should not have been
sought - whether they were not in Jerusalem or from other reasons it is impossible to
conjecture. But that such a deputation should have unhesitatingly addressed itself at such
a crisis and in a matter so important to a woman, not only indicates the exceptional
position which Huldah occupied in general opinion* - by the side of and even above the
two other Old Testament prophetesses,** Miriam (Exodus 15:20) and Deborah (Judges
4:4) - but also casts light on the spiritual relations under the Old Testament, and on the
religious conditions of the time.
- According to the Talmud (Meg. 14b), she was descended from Joshua and Rahab. She
is blamed for pride in saying, "Say to the man," when sending her answer to the king. It is
suggested that she was resorted to because women are more lenient in judgment than
men. But Jeremiah (whose relative she was) was at the time absent, seeking to bring back
the ten tribes. Other traditions need scarcely find a place here.
** The Talmud mentions seven prophetesses: Sarah, Miriam, Deborah, Hannah, Abigail,
Huldah, and Esther.
Above all, it shows with what absolute freeness the Spirit of God selected the instruments
which He employed in the execution of the Divine behests (comp. Joel 2:28, 29).
The plain and faithful words in which the prophetess announced the coming judgment (2
Kings 22:14-20) give a new and deeper meaning to the assembly of priests, prophets, and
people from Jerusalem and from all parts of the land whom Josiah gathered to hear "the
words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD" (2 Kings
23:2).
Evidently in all that he did, the king was actuated by higher motives than merely the wish
to avert punishment. In the Temple a solemn national "covenant" was made - no doubt,
by the people expressing their assent to the law as binding upon them. In consequence of
this, immediate measures were taken under the supervision of the high-priest and his
subordinates (2 Kings 23:4) for the removal of all the emblems of idolatry which had
defiled the Temple. The various "vessels made for Baal and for the Asherah, and for all
the host of heaven" were burnt (comp. Deuteronomy 7:25; 12:3), "in the fields of Kidron,
north-east of the city (comp. Jeremiah 31:40). Next, the Kemarim, or non-Levitical
priesthood, that officiated whether at the high places, or at the various shrines of idolatry,
were "put down." Thus the vile idol of Asherah was brought out from the sanctuary
which it had desecrated, burnt by the brook Kidron, its ashes stamped to powder, and
further to mark its profanation scattered over the common burying-place.|* Lastly, the
houses erected in close proximity to the Temple itself, for the lowest form of frenzied
heathen degradation, were broken down.
(^)