Josiah's Reform

Ten lavers, mounted on wheels, and decorated with images of lions, bulls, and cherubs, stood on either side of the bronze sea in the Jerusalem Temple’s courtyard. Are these the “chariots of the sun” (2 Kings 23:11) that Josiah’s reform purges from the Temple?

2 Kings 18:4 describes Hezekiah as having abolished the bamot, worship sites outside Jerusalem. Archaeologists have discovered decommissioned temples and altars from this period in Lachish, Beersheba, and Arad. What do these findings really tell us?

The Shema has many interpretations, philosophical, eschatological, national, etc. A historical-critical way to understand the Shema is to read it (and Deuteronomy more broadly) against the backdrop of Assyrian domination, when Assyria touted their god Ashur as the supreme master of the world.

Unlike the Priestly writers for whom sacrifice and rituals are needed to maintain the divine presence in the Tabernacle, the Deuteronomists stress God’s transcendence and the obedience of the heart and soul.