Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land and the house,.... The temple; this was in the twenty sixth year of his age, six years this work had been doing before it was finished:

he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah: who only is mentioned in 2 Kings 22:3 two more are added here, as follow:

and Maaseiah the governor of the city; the city of Jerusalem, a deputy governor under the king, a sort of mayor or provost:

and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder; who was over the book of memorials, as the Targum; the word may be rendered "the remembrances"; and, according to Jarchi, as every king of Judah had a scribe to write down the memorable things that happened in his reign, good or bad, so the scribe had one by him, to put him in mind of every transaction, from whom he wrote it down:

to repair the house of the Lord his God; that is, to give orders for the doing of it, to prepare for it, provide workmen, and appoint overseers of them: it had not been repaired since the times of Joash, which, according to the Jewish chronology (y), was a space of two hundred and eighteen years.

(y) Seder Olam Rabba, c. 24.

The cleansing and repairing of the temple, and the finding of the book of the law. Cf. 2 Kings 22:3-10. - In the eighteenth year of his reign, when he was purging the land and the house (of God), he sent. לטהר does not indeed signify "after the purging" (De Wette, with the older expositors), but still less is it a statement of the object, "to purge" (Berth.); for that is decisively disposed of both by its position at the beginning of the sentence, where no statement of the object would stand, but still more by the fact that a statement of the object follows, וגו לחזּק. ל used of time denotes "about," and so with the inf., e.g., Jeremiah 46:13 : at (his) coming equals when he came. Shaphan was סופר, state secretary, according to 2 Kings 22:3. With him the king sent the governor of the city Maaseiah, and the chancellor Joah. These two are not mentioned in 2 Kings 22:3, but have not been arbitrarily added by the chronicler, or invented by him, as Then. groundlessly supposes. "To repair the house of Jahve." What these high royal officials had to do with it we learn from what follows.

Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land, and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of the LORD his God.

34:8 The house - The house of God, called the house by way of eminency.

2Ch 34:8-18. He Repairs the Temple.

8. in the eighteenth year of his reign . he sent Shaphan-(See on [474]2Ki 22:3-9).

34:1-33 Josiah's good reign in Judah. - As the years of infancy cannot be useful to our fellow-creatures, our earliest youth should be dedicated to God, that we may not waste any of the remaining short space of life. Happy and wise are those who seek the Lord and prepare for usefulness at an early age, when others are pursuing sinful pleasures, contracting bad habits, and forming ruinous connexions. Who can express the anguish prevented by early piety, and its blessed effects? Diligent self-examination and watchfulness will convince us of the deceitfulness and wickedness of our own hearts, and the sinfulness of our lives. We are here encouraged to humble ourselves before God, and to seek unto him, as Josiah did. And believers are here taught, not to fear death, but to welcome it, when it takes them away from the evil to come. Nothing hastens the ruin of a people, nor ripens them for it, more than their disregard of the attempts made for their reformation. Be not deceived, God is not mocked. The current and tide of affections only turns at the command of Him who raises up those that are dead in trespasses and sins. We behold peculiar loveliness, in the grace the Lord bestows on those, who in tender years seek to know and to love the Saviour. Hath Jesus, the Day-spring from on high, visited you? Can you trace your knowledge of this light and life of man, like Josiah, from your youth? Oh the unspeakable happiness of becoming acquainted with Jesus from our earliest years!