2 Kings 22:8, commentary and pictures

The finding took place in the eighteenth year of Josiah, while the temple was being repaired under his reign, when Hilkiah the high priest found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. The volume discovered was the temple copy or manuscript itself, long lost and missing for many years. It had been lost through mismanagement and neglect during the reign of Manasseh, and that loss left the people without its instruction for many years. Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan the scribe, and Shaphan read it. The manuscript was handed to Shaphan and read by him, and news of its discovery was carried forward.

The recovered writing contained God's law and instruction for the people, including the covenant statutes recorded in Deuteronomy. Observance of those statutes had contributed to the prosperity under Hezekiah, and provision for their public reading had once been made through teaching priests. The book was brought to the attention of King Josiah and its words were read before him, revealing that Israel had departed from the statutes of the Lord. Its discovery and study helped bring about the reform under Josiah, opened the way for its teachings to guide the people, and averted the threatened judgments for a season.

Josiah treated the recovered book as a source of knowledge and an ally in reform, studying its precepts diligently and resolving to follow the light it gave. He humbled himself, confessed his transgression, and covenanted to keep the statutes with his whole heart, and the people joined in covenanting to keep the commandments. The discovery and reading of God's law expose sin and call for repentance and reform, for the opened book reveals the transgression of those who have turned from God. Each person is responsible to repent and reform as light comes, rather than face God's wrath.

Its teachings were honored and exalted, and Jeremiah later referred to them as he urged the people to keep their covenant with God and remember the precepts of the Decalogue spoken at Sinai. The account of the discovery and delivery of the book to Shaphan, who read it, during the work of repairing the temple in Josiah's reign, stands as a lesson for the Conference.