Josiah, << joh SY uh, >> was one of the last and most unselfish rulers of Judah. He ruled from about 639 B.C. to 609 B.C. Josiah came to the throne at the age of 8, after his father, Amon, was killed. After 18 years, a scroll called “the book of the law” was found while the Temple was being repaired. This book was sent to Huldah, the prophetess, who authenticated it (II Kings 22). Josiah used the book as his guide for major religious reform. He stopped idolatry in Judah and reinstituted the feast of the Passover in Jerusalem. The main part of Deuteronomy may have come from “the book of the law.”
During Josiah’s rule, the sprawling Assyrian empire was collapsing. In 626 B.C., Babylonia broke away and established its freedom. Assyria soon became too weak to demand tribute from its many provinces. Under Josiah’s rule, Judah also claimed independence.
An allied army of Babylonians and Medes captured Nineveh, the Assyrian capital, in 612 B.C. Pharaoh Necho II of Egypt then led his army into Palestine and Syria in 609 B.C. He met Josiah at Megiddo, and Josiah was fatally wounded in the ensuing battle.
