myBibleHistory

Journey of a Passage

2 Kings 22:8

"The book of the law"

All witnesses agree that Hilkiah found "the book of the law" (sefer ha-torah). What the book contained is a question of interpretation; the strongest hypothesis connects it with Deuteronomy.

Stable text: no manuscript differences in meaning

The family tree

Each row is a language or text tradition. Witnesses in the same row may share ancestry, revise one another, or have an uncertain relationship; the line under each box says which. A solid arrow appears only where direct copying or a documented revised edition is established. Order by date never implies copying. Scroll sideways on a phone.

✓ contains this verse · ▢ pages lost · – no copy survives

  • Same line, through lost copies
  • Translation
Hebrew
  1. Deuteronomy 31:26 (Masoretic Text)Deuteronomy (date debated)
  2. Original KingsUnknown (debated)
  3. Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)AD 1008Descends, through lost copies, from Original Kings
Greek
  1. Septuagint, 4 Kingdoms (library text: Giguet's French)Translated c. 2nd century BC; kaige revision 1st c. BC–1st c. ADTranslated from a Hebrew text of the period
Latin
  1. Jerome's Vulgatec. AD 400Translated from Hebrew texts of Jerome's day
English
  1. King James Bible1611Translated from printed Masoretic Hebrew

Every witness, in order

  1. Deuteronomy (date debated)

    Deuteronomy 31:26 (Masoretic Text)

    ✓ Contains this passage

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex, quoted here in English.

    Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark

    The same phrase.

  2. Unknown (debated)

    Original Kings

    – No copy survives

    No original survives.

  3. Translated c. 2nd century BC; kaige revision 1st c. BC–1st c. AD

    Septuagint, 4 Kingdoms (library text: Giguet's French)

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from a Hebrew text of the period

    How the site knows this: Known here only through a translation.

    J'ai trouvé dans le temple le livre de la loi

    One Greek text (Vaticanus type, kaige revision) via Giguet's French; not checked against a critical Greek edition.

  4. c. AD 400

    Jerome's Vulgate

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from Hebrew texts of Jerome's day

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Clementine Vulgate (1592 edition).

    Librum legis reperi in domo Domini

  5. AD 1008

    Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)

    ✓ Contains this passageDescends, through lost copies, from Original Kings

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex.

    סֵפֶר הַתּוֹרָה מָצָאתִי בְּבֵית יְהוָה

    the book of the law I have found in the house of the LORD

  6. 1611

    King James Bible

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from printed Masoretic Hebrew

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: King James Version (1769 text).

    I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD.

What changed, and why

Phrases such as "book of the law" and "book of the covenant" (23:2), and the reform's content, point to Deuteronomy. See the Deuteronomy investigation of Josiah's scroll.

What the evidence shows

  • Independently documentedAll checked witnesses agree.
  • Strongly supportedThe book was (a form of) Deuteronomy.

Sources

    Related lessons

    • The Rediscovered Law and Huldah →Josiah, made king at eight, orders temple repairs in his eighteenth year. The high priest Hilkiah tells the scribe Shaphan: "I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD." Shaphan reads it to the king, who tears his clothes. Josiah sends officials to the prophetess Huldah, who confirms that disaster will come on Jerusalem, but says that because Josiah humbled himself he will be gathered to his grave in peace.