Chronological timeline of texts tagged with Josiah's Narrative
About This Tag
Many literary patterns in the Hebrew Bible appear intentionally crafted or edited to anticipate resolution in the figure of Josiah, the reformative king of Judah. Scholars have observed how narrative structures, motifs, and themes often converge, subtly or explicitly, toward Josiah's reign as a pivotal climax. This literary shaping reveals that Josiah's scribes may have played a pivotal role in the shaping of the Hebrew Bible.
Note: Dates shown in this timeline are approximate and based on scholarly estimates.
Back to TagNumbers 21:9 / 2 Kings 18:4 / 2 Kings 24:8 / Jeremiah 8:17
5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
Numbers 21:9
Hebrew Bible
8 The Lord said to Moses, “Make a poisonous snake and set it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole, so that if a snake had bitten someone, when he looked at the bronze snake he lived. 10 The Israelites traveled on and camped in Oboth.
6th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
2 Kings 18:4
Hebrew Bible
3 He did what the Lord approved, just as his ancestor David had done. 4 He eliminated the high places, smashed the sacred pillars to bits, and cut down the Asherah pole. He also demolished the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been offering incense to it; it was called Nehushtan. 5 He trusted in the Lord God of Israel; in this regard there was none like him among the kings of Judah either before or after.
6th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
2 Kings 24:8
Hebrew Bible
7 The king of Egypt did not march out from his land again, for the king of Babylon conquered all the territory that the king of Egypt had formerly controlled between the Stream of Egypt and the Euphrates River. 8 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan, from Jerusalem. 9 He did evil in the sight of the Lord as his ancestors had done.
5th Century B.C.E.
Jeremiah 8:17
Hebrew Bible
16 The snorting of the enemy’s horses is already being heard in the city of Dan. The sound of the neighing of their stallions causes the whole land to tremble with fear. They are coming to destroy the land and everything in it. They are coming to destroy the cities and everyone who lives in them.” 17 The Lord says, “Yes indeed, I am sending an enemy against you that will be like poisonous snakes that cannot be charmed away. And they will inflict fatal wounds on you.” 18 Then I said, “There is no cure for my grief! I am sick at heart!
6th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
Deuteronomy 6:5
Hebrew Bible
3 Pay attention, Israel, and be careful to do this so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in number—as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, said to you, you will have a land flowing with milk and honey. 4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! 5 You must love the Lord your God with your whole mind, your whole being, and all your strength. 6 These words I am commanding you today must be kept in mind, 7 and you must teach them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along the road, as you lie down, and as you get up.
6th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
2 Kings 23:25
Hebrew Bible
23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah’s reign, such a Passover of the Lord was observed in Jerusalem. 24 Josiah also got rid of the ritual pits used to conjure up spirits, the magicians, personal idols, disgusting images, and all the detestable idols that had appeared in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem. In this way he carried out the terms of the law recorded on the scroll that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the Lord’s temple. 25 No king before or after repented before the Lord as he did, with his whole heart, soul, and being in accordance with the whole law of Moses. 26 Yet the Lord’s great anger against Judah did not subside; he was still infuriated by all the things Manasseh had done. 27 The Lord announced, “I will also spurn Judah, just as I spurned Israel. I will reject this city that I chose—both Jerusalem and the temple, about which I said, ‘I will live there.’”
6th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
Deuteronomy 9:21
Hebrew Bible
20 The Lord was also angry enough at Aaron to kill him, but at that time I prayed for him too. 21 As for your sinful thing that you had made, the calf, I took it, melted it down, ground it up until it was as fine as dust, and tossed the dust into the stream that flows down the mountain. 22 Moreover, you continued to provoke the Lord at Taberah, Massah, and Kibroth Hattaavah.
6th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
2 Kings 23:15
Hebrew Bible
14 He smashed the sacred pillars to bits, cut down the Asherah poles, and filled those shrines with human bones. 15 He also tore down the altar in Bethel at the high place made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who encouraged Israel to sin. He burned all the combustible items at that high place and crushed them to dust, including the Asherah pole. 16 When Josiah turned around, he saw the tombs there on the hill. So he ordered the bones from the tombs to be brought; he burned them on the altar and defiled it, just as in the Lord’s message that was announced by the prophet while Jeroboam stood by the altar during a festival. Then the king turned and saw the grave of the prophet who had foretold this.
6th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
Deuteronomy 12:11
Hebrew Bible
10 When you do go across the Jordan River and settle in the land he is granting you as an inheritance and you find relief from all the enemies who surround you, you will live in safety. 11 Then you must come to the place the Lord your God chooses for his name to reside, bringing everything I am commanding you—your burnt offerings, sacrifices, tithes, the personal offerings you have prepared, and all your choice votive offerings that you devote to him. 12 You shall rejoice in the presence of the Lord your God, along with your sons, daughters, male and female servants, and the Levites in your villages (since they have no allotment or inheritance with you).
6th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
2 Kings 23:19
Hebrew Bible
18 The king said, “Leave it alone! No one must touch his bones.” So they left his bones undisturbed, as well as the bones of the Israelite prophet buried beside him. 19 Josiah also removed all the shrines on the high places in the cities of Samaria. The kings of Israel had made them and angered the Lord. He did to them what he had done to the high place in Bethel. 20 He sacrificed all the priests of the high places on the altars located there, and burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.
6th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
Deuteronomy 17:19
Hebrew Bible
15 you must select without fail a king whom the Lord your God chooses. From among your fellow citizens you must appoint a king—you may not designate a foreigner who is not one of your fellow Israelites. 16 Moreover, he must not accumulate horses for himself or allow the people to return to Egypt to do so, for the Lord has said you must never again return that way. 17 Furthermore, he must not marry many wives lest his affections turn aside, and he must not accumulate much silver and gold. 18 When he sits on his royal throne he must make a copy of this law on a scroll given to him by the Levitical priests. 19 It must be with him constantly, and he must read it as long as he lives, so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and observe all the words of this law and these statutes and carry them out. 20 Then he will not exalt himself above his fellow citizens or turn from the commandments to the right or left, and he and his descendants will enjoy many years ruling over his kingdom in Israel.
6th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
2 Kings 23:2
Hebrew Bible
1 The king summoned all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem. 2 The king went up to the Lord’s temple, accompanied by all the people of Judah, all the residents of Jerusalem, the priests, and the prophets. All the people were there, from the youngest to the oldest. He read in their ears2 all the words of the scroll of the covenant that had been discovered in the Lord’s temple. 3 The king stood by the pillar and renewed the covenant before the Lord, agreeing to follow the Lord and to obey his commandments, laws, and rules with all his heart and being, by carrying out the terms of this covenant recorded on this scroll. All the people agreed to keep the covenant.
6th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
Deuteronomy 18:10
Hebrew Bible
8 He must eat the same share they do, despite any profits he may gain from the sale of his family’s inheritance. 9 When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, you must not learn the abhorrent practices of those nations. 10 There must never be found among you anyone who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, anyone who practices divination, an omen reader, a soothsayer, a sorcerer, 11 one who casts spells, one who conjures up spirits, a practitioner of the occult, or a necromancer. 12 Whoever does these things is abhorrent to the Lord, and because of these detestable things the Lord your God is about to drive them out from before you.
6th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
2 Kings 21:6
Hebrew Bible
4 He built altars in the Lord’s temple, about which the Lord had said, “Jerusalem will be my home.” 5 In the two courtyards of the Lord’s temple he built altars for all the stars in the sky. 6 He passed his son through the fire and practiced divination and omen reading. He set up a ritual pit to conjure up underworld spirits and appointed magicians to supervise it. He did a great amount of evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger. 7 He put an idol of Asherah he had made in the temple, about which the Lord had said to David and to his son Solomon, “This temple in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will be my permanent home. 8 I will not make Israel again leave the land I gave to their ancestors, provided that they carefully obey all I commanded them, the whole law my servant Moses ordered them to obey.”
6th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
1 Kings 11:5
Hebrew Bible
4 When Solomon became old, his wives shifted his allegiance to other gods; he was not wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord his God, as his father David had been. 5 Solomon worshiped the Sidonian goddess Astarte and the detestable Ammonite god Milcom. 6 Solomon did evil in the Lord’s sight; he did not remain loyal to the Lord, as his father David had. 7 Furthermore, on the hill east of Jerusalem Solomon built a high place for the detestable Moabite god Chemosh and for the detestable Ammonite god Milcom.
6th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
2 Kings 23:13
Hebrew Bible
12 The king tore down the altars the kings of Judah had set up on the roof of Ahaz’s upper room, as well as the altars Manasseh had set up in the two courtyards of the Lord’s temple. He crushed them and threw the dust in the Kidron Valley. 13 The king ruined the high places east of Jerusalem, south of the Mount of Destruction, that King Solomon of Israel had built for the detestable Sidonian goddess Astarte, the detestable Moabite god Chemosh, and the horrible Ammonite god Milcom. 14 He smashed the sacred pillars to bits, cut down the Asherah poles, and filled those shrines with human bones.
6th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
1 Kings 13:2
Hebrew Bible
1 Just then a prophet arrived from Judah with the Lord’s message for Bethel, as Jeroboam was standing near the altar ready to offer a sacrifice. 2 He cried out against the altar with the Lord’s message, “O altar, altar! This is what the Lord has said, ‘Look, a son named Josiah will be born to the Davidic dynasty. He will sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who offer sacrifices on you. Human bones will be burned on you.’” 3 That day he had also given a sign, saying, “This is the sign that the Lord has declared: The altar will split open and the ashes on it will pour out.”
6th Century B.C.E. (Final composition)
2 Kings 23:16
Hebrew Bible
14 He smashed the sacred pillars to bits, cut down the Asherah poles, and filled those shrines with human bones. 15 He also tore down the altar in Bethel at the high place made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who encouraged Israel to sin. He burned all the combustible items at that high place and crushed them to dust, including the Asherah pole. 16 When Josiah turned around, he saw the tombs there on the hill. So he ordered the bones from the tombs to be brought; he burned them on the altar and defiled it, just as in the Lord’s message that was announced by the prophet while Jeroboam stood by the altar during a festival. Then the king turned and saw the grave of the prophet who had foretold this.
5th Century B.C.E.
Jeremiah 22:16
Hebrew Bible
14 He says, “I will build myself a large palace with spacious upper rooms.”He cuts windows in its walls, panels it with cedar, and paints its rooms red. 15 Does it make you any more of a king that you outstrip everyone else in building with cedar? Just think about your father. He was content that he had food and drink. He did what was just and right. So things went well with him. 16 He upheld the cause of the poor and needy. So things went well for Judah.’ The Lord says, ‘That is a good example of what it means to know me. 17 But you are always thinking and looking for ways to increase your wealth by dishonest means. Your eyes and your heart are set on killing some innocent person and committing fraud and oppression.’” 18 So the Lord has this to say about Josiah’s son, King Jehoiakim of Judah:“People will not mourn for him, saying,‘This makes me sad, my brother! This makes me sad, my sister!’They will not mourn for him, saying,‘Poor, poor lord! Poor, poor majesty!’
6th-3rd Centuries B.C.E.
Psalm 72:4
Hebrew Bible
2 Then he will judge your people fairly and your oppressed ones equitably. 3 The mountains will bring news of peace to the people, and the hills will announce justice. 4 He will defend the oppressed among the people; he will deliver the children of the poor and crush the oppressor. 5 People will fear you as long as the sun and moon remain in the sky, for generation after generation. 6 He will descend like rain on the mown grass, like showers that drench the earth.