2 Kings — Chapter 22

Helcias the high priest said to Saphan the scribe: I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. And Helcias gave the book to Saphan, and he read it. Lapide, with S. Chrysostom, S. Athanasius, and Abulensis: The book found was Deuteronomy or, according to Josephus, the whole Pentateuch, hidden in the wall of the temple by priests who concealed it from the impious Manasseh, who had burned the books of the law. The very fact that the Word of God could be lost for fifty-five years shows the depth of the apostasy; its rediscovery moved Josiah to violent compunction.

When the king had heard the words of the book of the law of the Lord, he rent his garments. Lapide: The tearing of his garments by Josiah on hearing the Law read aloud is a model of true compunction. He recognised in the threatened curses of Deuteronomy an indictment of his own generation. Lapide notes that the Word of God, when heard with an open heart, always produces this effect — sorrow for sin and fear of judgment.

They went to Holda the prophetess, the wife of Sellum the son of Thecua; she dwelt in Jerusalem in the second ward. Lapide, citing S. Jerome (Adv. Pelagianos II): That the priests were sent to consult a woman prophet is a hidden reproach to all the men of that generation, that no holy man of the stature required could be found. Holda was celebrated for her age, prudence, and holiness, like Deborah and Anna the mother of Samuel. Lapide defends the authority of women prophets as a special divine charism, distinct from the ordinary teaching office reserved to men.

Because thy heart was moved, and thou wast humbled before the Lord, when thou didst hear against this place and its inhabitants; because thou fearedst before my face, and didst rend thy garments, and weep before me, I also have heard thee, saith the Lord. Lapide: God's response to Josiah's tears is one of the most moving divine promises in the Old Testament. God promises that Josiah will die before the catastrophe, so that his eyes shall not see the evil. Lapide reads this as a lesson on the value of tears of compunction: \"God hears the weeper\" above all other prayers.

Behold I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy sepulchre in peace, that thy eyes may not see all the evils which I will bring upon this place. Lapide: God's mercy to Josiah — removing him before the catastrophe — is a theme developed from Scripture's own reasoning. Those whom God loves most He often takes away early, before the time of greatest tribulation. Lapide cites S. Wisdom iv.11 (\"He was taken away lest wickedness should alter his understanding\") and applies it here. The good man's early death is not a punishment but a mercy.