In the Old Testament we can read the account of the female prophet, teacher, and leader Huldah who played a key role in Jewish history. This is the story ...
Context
The story of Huldah is found in 2 Kings 22 and then retold with some more details in 2 Chronicle 34. The story is set in the seventh century BC before the Exile, during the reign of King Josiah of Judah. At this time, the tribes of Israel were split into the southern kingdom of Judah, and the northern kingdom which kept the name of Israel. King Josiah
Josiah was the great-grandson of King Hezekiah. He succeeded his murdered father King Amon, when he was only eight years old, to become king of Judah (2 Kings 2:1-2) in about 640 BC. The text specifically mentions that his mother was Jedidah (2 Kings 22:1). This is significant because when kings were young, the queen mother was often the actual ruler, ruling as regent in the name of her son, until he was old enough to rule. In the eighth year of his reign, when he was aged sixteen, the text says that Josiah began to seek the God of his ancestor David (2 Chronicles 34:3). This may indicate that now he is ruling himself.
Prophets at the time of Josiah
There were several prophets at the time of King Josiah. The book of Jeremiah starts by saying the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah in the 13th year of the reign of Josiah (Jeremiah 1:1-2), which is when King Josiah was 21 years old. The book of Zephaniah also starts by saying that the word of the LORD came to Zephaniah during the reign of King Josiah (Zephaniah 1:10). Many scholars think that Habakkuk was also a contemporary of Jeremiah, because the book is set in the immediate pre-exilic period. As well as Jeremiah, Zephaniah and Habakkuk, there was also another prophet, who is less well known, and that was Huldah, who was a female prophet.
Finding a scroll
The Bible says that in the 18th year of King Josiah’s reign, when he was 26 years old, he ordered the priests to repair the Temple, which had fallen into disrepair. He paid carpenters, builders, and masons to restore and renovate it (2 Kings 22:3-6 and 2 Chronicles 34:8-13), which was overseen by the Levites. It was during the repair of the Temple that the High Priest, Hilkiah found a hidden scroll which is described as the ‘Book of the Law’. (2 Kings 22:8 and 2 Chronicles 34:14). The king’s scribe Shafan took the newly found scroll to the king and read it to him (2 Kings 22:8-10 and 2 Chronicles 34:24-18). After hearing the words, King Josiah sent for his advisers (2 Kings 22:11-14 and 2 Chronicles 34:19-22). He wanted to know if the scroll was genuine. The story relates that it was not to the prophets Jeremiah nor Zephaniah that the High Priest deferred, but to Huldah (2 Kings 22:11-14 and 2 Chronicles 34:23-25).
Who was Huldah?
Not a lot is known about Huldah. Her name in Hebrew is ,חוּלְדָה written as ‘Huldah’ in most English-language translations, and often as ‘Chuldah’ in Jewish literature. She was the wife of Shallum, who is described as keeper of the wardrobe. It is not clear if that was the royal wardrobe, looking after the king’s robes, or the Temple wardrobe, in charge of priestly robes and vestments, or maybe both. If it was the Temple wardrobe, that probably means they were both Levites. The text says that they lived in a quarter of Jerusalem, so near the Temple. Huldah seems to have been educated because she could read the Scriptures. Jewish tradition has it that Huldah was a teacher of the Torah outside the gates in the southern wall of Jerusalem, and these gates, which are now blocked up, are known as the ‘Huldah Gates’. She was recognised as an authority on Scripture, and so the scroll was taken to her. She read it and identified the scroll as Scripture. Huldah is the first person recorded as declaring any writings to be Scripture.
Huldah’s Prophecy
Huldah prayed and made a statement starting with the customary “Thus saith the LORD” (2 Kings 34:25 and 2 Chronicles 34:23), indicating that she was a prophet. She delivered a message regarding the fate of Judah, due to their disobedience, predicting disaster. However, she said that because King Josiah humbled himself, disaster would not come until after he died (2 Kings 22:15-20 & 2 Chronicles 34:23-28).
Covenant service
Josiah held Huldah’s prophecy in high regard. He followed the instructions which were read out and assembled the people at the Temple in Jerusalem. Here there was a public reading of the Law from the rediscovered scroll (2 Kings 23:1-2 & 2 Chronicles 34:29-30). There was unanimous agreement from all the people, who renewed their covenant, and they pledged to obey the LORD and keep his commands (2 Kings 23:2 Chronicles 34:31-32). In 1755, this story inspired John Wesley to create the annual Methodist Covenant Service.
Re-instating the Passover
King Josiah then put into action a religious reformation. He purged paganism, and destroyed idolatrous shrines, altars, and statues, and dismissed priests who had served at pagan shrines (2 Kings 23:8-20 & 2 Chronicles 34:33). King Josiah then re-instituted the rite of Passover (2 Chronicles 35:19), which had fallen out of practice. He gave the order to the people to ‘celebrate the Passover to the LORD your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant’ (2 Kings 23:21) i.e. according to Deuteronomy 16:1-8. The text says that people came from all over Judah and many from the northern kingdom of Israel. It was the most complete Passover since the time of the prophet Samuel (2 Kings 23:21-22 & 2 Chronicles 25:18), some four centuries before. Without Huldah, King Josiah would not have re-instituted the Passover, and perhaps without the Passover there would have been no Last Supper, and no modern communion service.
Which scroll was it?
At the time of King Josiah most of the books of Hebrew Scripture as we know them had not been written yet. In the passage the scroll which was found is called ‘the Book of the Law’ which suggests the Torah, or part of the Torah. Josiah’s actions which followed its reading reflect the contents of the book of Deuteronomy, and it is in Deuteronomy that the Passover was defined as a festival which everyone should attend (Deuteronomy 16:1-7). It seems that the scroll was the fifth book of Moses which we call Deuteronomy, so without Huldah we would not have had this book in the Bible.
Legacy
Huldah’s story is not well known. Many people have simply never heard of her, and most Christians have never heard a sermon on her, and you don’t hear of Jewish nor Christian girls being called Huldah. A very practical reason Huldah’s story is not well known in many churches is that the story does not appear as a reading in the lectionary. Yet it is a great story. She is a noteworthy Old Testament female prophet, who was a teacher and a leader, and who was deferred to by both the King and the High Priest, even in preference to other male prophets.
We should not forget Huldah’s legacy. Without Huldah we would probably not have the book of Deuteronomy, nor the Covenant Service, nor the Lord’s Supper.
