What did the Book contain, and were Josiah's reforms based upon it?
Simply expressed, it comprised the so-called “core” of Deuteronomy, starting with Chapter 6, then the commandments, then the chapters presently numbered 12 through 26, then 28. Chapters 12-16 describe the leaving of Egypt, the requirement for submission to the Lord’s will, and the destruction of all the things of the other gods and the high places. They relate the entry into the Promised Land, but make no mention of Moses - Egypt yes, but Moses no! (Moses was important to Israel, but not so important to Judah[1]). Chapters 12-16 provide the first link to Egypt. The emphasis is on the Covenant: unless you obey the word of the Lord, you will lose the land and go into exile. They go on to recite what you can and cannot do and eat.
Deuteronomy cements the Mosaic tradition as the primary revelation, but not, as yet, Moses. It recasts the Festivals: Passover (celebration of the redemption of the first-born), Weeks (commemorates the anniversary of the day God gave the Torah to the entire nation of Israel assembled at Mount Sinai) and Tabernacles. These ancient feasts were all originally pagan Canaanite festivals, which were recast and retrospectively given a historical provenance they never had before. The first mention of the Passover is found in the Book of Kings in the seventh century BCE. Until then no Passover had ever been celebrated. The Feast of Tabernacles, for example, is Israel’s Thanksgiving feast in which they acknowledge the fall harvest and God’s provision for them: Deut 16: 16-17. It required a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to worship in the Temple and offer sacrifices and offering to the Lord. This feast also remembers Israel’s deliverance from Egypt and their subsequent wandering in the wilderness for forty years. During this time Israel lived in tents and worshipped at the Tabernacle which was also a tent. Historically, people met at various places to celebrate these feasts: Shiloh, Schechem, Beth-el for example. But the cult was now centralised in Jerusalem![2]
Were the reforms of Josiah inspired by Deuteronomy?
Perhaps, but II Chronicles 34 suggests that the destruction of the High Places occurred 6 years before the Law Book was discovered, and the reforms of Josiah as described in Kings appear out of context in Judah and internally contradictory.
[1] Dr Susan Glover, op cit.
[2] For the Shiloh connection, see Richard Friedman, Who wrote the Bible, HarperOne 1987.
Deuteronomy cements the Mosaic tradition as the primary revelation, but not, as yet, Moses. It recasts the Festivals: Passover (celebration of the redemption of the first-born), Weeks (commemorates the anniversary of the day God gave the Torah to the entire nation of Israel assembled at Mount Sinai) and Tabernacles. These ancient feasts were all originally pagan Canaanite festivals, which were recast and retrospectively given a historical provenance they never had before. The first mention of the Passover is found in the Book of Kings in the seventh century BCE. Until then no Passover had ever been celebrated. The Feast of Tabernacles, for example, is Israel’s Thanksgiving feast in which they acknowledge the fall harvest and God’s provision for them: Deut 16: 16-17. It required a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to worship in the Temple and offer sacrifices and offering to the Lord. This feast also remembers Israel’s deliverance from Egypt and their subsequent wandering in the wilderness for forty years. During this time Israel lived in tents and worshipped at the Tabernacle which was also a tent. Historically, people met at various places to celebrate these feasts: Shiloh, Schechem, Beth-el for example. But the cult was now centralised in Jerusalem![2]
Were the reforms of Josiah inspired by Deuteronomy?
Perhaps, but II Chronicles 34 suggests that the destruction of the High Places occurred 6 years before the Law Book was discovered, and the reforms of Josiah as described in Kings appear out of context in Judah and internally contradictory.
[1] Dr Susan Glover, op cit.
[2] For the Shiloh connection, see Richard Friedman, Who wrote the Bible, HarperOne 1987.