2 Kings 22 - NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible
22:8 found the Book of the Law. We are not told the range of content that was included in the document that was discovered. It is clearly a covenant document of some sort. Given that the foundation and structure of ancient Near Eastern buildings were often used as a repository for dedicatory inscriptions and the storage of royal annals, Hilkiah’s “discovery” of the Book of the Law is not as peculiar as it may at first appear. Such foundation tablets would often include instructions of religious and architectural significance for those who might be involved in future temple restoration. For example, in the palace of Sin-kasid at Uruk, a large number of clay tablets were intentionally built into the foundation of the temple in regular intervals of approximately 16.5 inches (42 centimeters).
In the context of Josiah’s religious reforms and temple restoration (23:8–13), there may have even been an intentional search for such guiding documents given the supreme importance of properly handling sacred space. Discovered texts were commonly reburied in conjunction with a temple refurbishing project, as reflected by the Assyrian king Tukulti-Ninurta I, who redeposited foundation tablets from the time of Adadnirari I into the wall of the Aššurimtu temple at Assur.
The discovery of ancient foundation documents at a holy place such as a temple could also impact contemporary religious thought, since these texts carried an implicit level of authority. Pharaoh Shabako claimed to have found a forgotten theological text describing the creation of the world by Ptah, now called the Memphite Theology, which he had inscribed on stone. A similar process is seen by the reforms enacted by Josiah following the discovery of the Book of the Law.
22:14 the prophet Huldah . . . wife of Shallum . . . keeper of the wardrobe. It is not clear whether Shallum was in charge of the king’s wardrobe or the wardrobe of the priests in the temple (cf. 10:22). It is consequently unclear whether Huldah was the wife of a court official or perhaps one of the temple personnel. Female prophets are well-known in the ancient Near East, sometimes addressing kings (as here) on important matters such as their personal security.
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