Chapter 22 of Sefer Melachim B opens the era of Yoshiyahu the king, one of the righteous kings who arose from the house of David. The chapter deals with two matters that intertwine with one another: the renovation of the Temple and the strengthening of its structure, and the finding of the Torah scroll in the House of Hashem. From this account there emerges a piercing rebuke: it is not enough to adorn the Temple externally, for the essence is the repair of one's inner self and heart.
בֶּן־שְׁמֹנֶה שָׁנָה יֹאשִׁיָּהוּ בְמָלְכוֹ וּשְׁלֹשִׁים וְאַחַת שָׁנָה מָלַךְ בִּירוּשָׁלִָם וְשֵׁם אִמּוֹ יְדִידָה בַת־עֲדָיָה מִבָּצְקַת׃ וַיַּעַשׂ הַיָּשָׁר בְּעֵינֵי יְהוָה וַיֵּלֶךְ בְּכָל־דֶּרֶךְ דָּוִד אָבִיו וְלֹא־סָר יָמִין וּשְׂמֹאול׃ - Yoshiyahu was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty one years in Jerusalem, and his mother's name was Yedidah the daughter of Adayah of Botzkat. And he did what was right in the eyes of Hashem, and walked in all the way of David his father, and did not turn aside to the right or to the left.
Yoshiyahu ascended to the throne at the age of eight, reigned thirty one years, did what was right in the eyes of Hashem, walked in all the way of David his father, and did not turn aside to the right or to the left.
וַיְהִי בִּשְׁמֹנֶה עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה לַמֶּלֶךְ יֹאשִׁיָּהוּ שָׁלַח הַמֶּלֶךְ אֶת־שָׁפָן בֶּן־אֲצַלְיָהוּ בֶן־מְשֻׁלָּם הַסֹּפֵר בֵּית יְהוָה לֵאמֹר׃ עֲלֵה אֶל־חִלְקִיָּהוּ הַכֹּהֵן הַגָּדוֹל וְיַתֵּם אֶת־הַכֶּסֶף הַמּוּבָא בֵּית יְהוָה אֲשֶׁר אָסְפוּ שֹׁמְרֵי הַסַּף מֵאֵת הָעָם׃ - And it came to pass in the eighteenth year of King Yoshiyahu, that the king sent Shafan the son of Atzalyahu the son of Meshulam the scribe to the House of Hashem, saying: Go up to Chilkiyahu the High Priest, that he may total the money that has been brought into the House of Hashem, which the keepers of the threshold have gathered from the people.
The king sends Shafan, who was the scribe, to the House of Hashem, to Chilkiyahu the High Priest. The Levites, the keepers of the threshold, had gathered money from all the remnant of Israel who had returned to Jerusalem, and now the money must be counted and the collection completed, so that with it the Temple structure could be strengthened.
An interesting point worth noting: we have seen two kings who strengthened the Temple structure, Yehoash and Yoshiyahu. Yehoash, who likewise ascended to the throne as a child, seven years old when he began to reign, strengthened the Temple structure; and so too Yoshiyahu. Now the letters of the two names are almost identical: Yehoash, Yoshiyahu. And what does the word "ushiyot" mean in the holy tongue? Foundations. Both of them were occupied with strengthening the foundations of the Temple, and their names testify to this.
וְיִתְּנוּהוּ עַל־יַד עֹשֵׂי הַמְּלָאכָה הַמֻּפְקָדִים בֵּית יְהוָה וְיִתְּנוּ אֹתוֹ לְעֹשֵׂי הַמְּלָאכָה אֲשֶׁר בְּבֵית יְהוָה לְחַזֵּק בֶּדֶק הַבָּיִת׃ - And let them deliver it into the hand of those who do the work, who are appointed over the House of Hashem, and let them give it to those who do the work in the House of Hashem, to repair the structure of the Temple.
From the time of Yehoash, when the Temple structure was strengthened, until the days of Yoshiyahu, two hundred and twenty four years had passed. The Radak brings that in Seder Olam it is written two hundred and eighteen years. In any case this is a very considerable time for the foundations of a building, and therefore Yoshiyahu seeks to strengthen the Temple structure once again and restore it to its proper condition.
לֶחָרָשִׁים וְלַבֹּנִים וְלַגֹּדְרִים וְלִקְנוֹת עֵצִים וְאַבְנֵי מַחְצֵב לְחַזֵּק אֶת־הַבָּיִת׃ - To the carpenters, and to the builders, and to the masons, and to buy timber and hewn stones to strengthen the Temple.
The carpenters are those who cut the timber; the builders are those who actually set the timber into the walls of the Temple; and the masons are those who build the stone walls. For this purpose they buy timber and hewn stones to strengthen the Temple.
אַךְ לֹא־יֵחָשֵׁב אִתָּם הַכֶּסֶף הַנִּתָּן עַל־יָדָם כִּי בֶאֱמוּנָה הֵם עֹשִׂים׃ - But no accounting shall be made with them of the money handed over to them, for they act in good faith.
The king chose from the outset such special people that there would be no need to make a reckoning with them. That is, there was no room to ask them how much money you received and how much work you produced in the end, for they were trustworthy men, and therefore "no accounting shall be made with them of the money handed over to them."
וַיֹּאמֶר חִלְקִיָּהוּ הַכֹּהֵן הַגָּדוֹל עַל־שָׁפָן הַסֹּפֵר סֵפֶר הַתּוֹרָה מָצָאתִי בְּבֵית יְהוָה וַיִּתֵּן חִלְקִיָּה אֶת־הַסֵּפֶר אֶל־שָׁפָן וַיִּקְרָאֵהוּ׃ - And Hilkiyahu the High Priest said to Shafan the scribe, "I have found the scroll of the Torah in the House of Hashem," and Hilkiya gave the scroll to Shafan, and he read it.
Here begins the passage known as the discovery of the Sefer Torah in the House of Hashem. Hilkiyahu the High Priest informs Shafan the scribe that during the repair work in the Temple a single Sefer Torah was found that had been hidden beneath the course of stone in the House of Hashem. This scroll he gives to Shafan, and Shafan reads it.
וַיָּבֹא שָׁפָן הַסֹּפֵר אֶל־הַמֶּלֶךְ וַיָּשֶׁב אֶת־הַמֶּלֶךְ דָּבָר וַיֹּאמֶר הִתִּיכוּ עֲבָדֶיךָ אֶת־הַכֶּסֶף הַנִּמְצָא בַבַּיִת וַיִּתְּנֻהוּ עַל־יַד עֹשֵׂי הַמְּלָאכָה הַמֻּפְקָדִים בֵּית יְהוָה׃ - And Shafan the scribe came to the king and brought the king back word, and said, "Your servants have melted down the money that was found in the House, and have handed it over to those who do the work, who are appointed in the House of Hashem."
וַיַּגֵּד שָׁפָן הַסֹּפֵר לַמֶּלֶךְ לֵאמֹר סֵפֶר נָתַן לִי חִלְקִיָּה הַכֹּהֵן וַיִּקְרָאֵהוּ שָׁפָן לִפְנֵי הַמֶּלֶךְ׃ וַיְהִי כִּשְׁמֹעַ הַמֶּלֶךְ אֶת־דִּבְרֵי סֵפֶר הַתּוֹרָה וַיִּקְרַע אֶת־בְּגָדָיו׃ - And Shafan the scribe told the king, saying, "Hilkiya the priest has given me a scroll," and Shafan read it before the king. And when the king heard the words of the scroll of the Torah, he tore his garments.
Following these words the king sends to inquire of the prophet of Hashem so that he might tell him what to do. But before that we must understand several matters: first, what is this Sefer Torah that was found? Second, what is the great agitation and what is the tearing of garments, over what is the grief? And third, this is the main difficulty, why be so moved by a Sefer Torah that was found? Did they not have Sifrei Torah? Did they not know what is written in the Sefer Torah? And if something were written in it that is not written in our Sefer Torah, then it is certainly not a kosher and authentic Sefer Torah, and there is no reason to relate to it. If so, what is the great excitement over this Sefer Torah?
First one must know that there are all kinds of scholars, what are called Bible critics, with whom we have no interest in dealing. They are called Bible critics because they come to Scripture only to criticize; they did not really study it as it should be studied. They claim: here you have it, the Sefer Torah was lost, there was no Torah, from the time of Moshe the Torah was forgotten, and now they found it. But this contradicts explicit pesukim in the Torah, that the Torah will never be forgotten, there is no such thing as the Torah being forgotten. That is one thing. And second, how can one say that no person had a Sefer Torah, when the Torah commands that every Jew write himself a Sefer Torah? And how is it possible that no one had a Sefer Torah, when there were also righteous kings?
Because of this difficulty, let us first study the words of the Radak. Menashe reigned fifty five years, did evil in the eyes of Hashem, built altars to idolatry, and caused the Torah to be forgotten among Israel. The Radak says that as a result of his deeds no scrolls remained: he went about searching for the Torah scrolls and carried out a systematic destruction of them all.
And in order to understand this concept of a book that once existed and is now gone: we do not have the Talmud Yerushalmi on Seder Kodashim, and it is clear to us that it existed, since all the Rishonim mention it, and yet we do not have it today. About a hundred and fifty years ago a certain scholar came, wise in his own eyes, and composed a work on Seder Kodashim as though it were the Yerushalmi, and claimed to have found the lost Yerushalmi. Some were misled and followed him, but there were among the great ones of Israel who saw the matter and said that this is not the Yerushalmi. They asked the Rogatchover, and he said that this is not the Yerushalmi. They asked him, for he was tremendously expert in the Yerushalmi, how does the Rav know? He said to them: in every seder of the Yerushalmi there is a particular Amora who is unique to that tractate, and he appears statistically more than all the other Amoraim; and in this seder they combined the Amoraim from all the sedarim of the Yerushalmi - whoever composed it inserted them all, so as not to leave anyone out. And there were those who simply sensed it and said: there is no holiness in this. One began to study it, said there is no holiness in this, and distanced it from himself. One cannot forge. And in the end his disgrace was revealed, and it became publicized how he did the thing, and that it was all a forgery. In any case, understand what caliber of Torah scholar we are speaking of, if he was able to mislead to the point that some thought this was the original Talmud Yerushalmi.
All this is only to understand that there are books that once existed and are now gone. The Radak says: there was a book and it is gone. During the fifty five years of the reign of the wicked Menashe it came about that no scrolls remained, and now, when they carry out repairs and examine and search in the Holy of Holies, there they find the Torah scroll. According to the Radak the Torah scroll had been placed in its place at the side of the Aron. According to another explanation, as we said, it was hidden in the threshold. And what was it doing there? According to those who say it was hidden in the threshold, the priests did not want Menashe to take even this Torah scroll that was at the side of the Aron of the covenant of Hashem, and so they hid it there so that it would be preserved for many days in the future.
But there is a difficulty on the Radak's explanation: after all, Menashe repented, and if he repented he surely also restored the Torah scrolls. How can it be that only in the time of his grandson do they suddenly find a Torah scroll? On this the Radak says that apparently he repented at the end of his days and did not have time to restore the Torah scrolls and to strengthen the people spiritually. However, as we learned in the previous lesson, the Radak adds that this is very difficult, since Chazal say that Menashe was in repentance for thirty three years, and if so he had enough time to restore the Torah scrolls. And therefore he remains with the difficulty, without understanding how it can be that Menashe for so many years did not restore the Torah scrolls.
The Metzudat David has an explanation that is the one accepted by the commentators and the most reasonable. According to him there were other Torah scrolls, but there was something special about this Torah scroll. The Torah scroll in the Sanctuary was always rolled to its beginning. That is, it was not placed like our Torah scroll today, which if you open it you find it at Parashat Pinchas, since we read at Parashat Pinchas; rather the Torah scroll at the side of the Aron was always rolled to its beginning, starting from Bereishit - they would finish reading in it and roll it back to its beginning, and that is how they placed it the last time. And now they arrive and see the Torah scroll open, and where is it open? At the top of the column, at the beginning of the page, is written "יולך ה' אותך ואת מלכך בגלות אל מלך אשר לא ידעת" and so on - the beginning of the prophecy of rebuke is written there at the top of the scroll's column, and the scroll is open there. And they know that they did not place the scroll like this, but rolled it to its beginning, and now they find it in this state. From this they understand that there is here a prophecy from Hashem, a prophecy has been cast here, there is here a message from Hashem.
A very interesting thing Rav Ratzabi says: if we open any Torah scroll, we will not find in it that the verse "יולך ה' אותך ואת מלכך" appears at the top of the column - except for the Yemenite Torah scrolls. The Yemenite Torah scrolls are attributed to Ezra the Scribe, meaning they were copied from his scrolls, and in them specifically "יולך ה' אותך ואת מלכך" is found at the top of the column, exactly as the Metzudat David writes, and this shows their authenticity. And by the way, the letter skips that are found in the Torah are checked according to the Yemenite Torah scrolls, since they are known as very authentic. And likewise when they found the Keter of Aram Tzova and compared it, it was found to be identical to the Yemenite Torah scrolls, which is known as the attributed scroll, copied from the scroll of Ezra the Scribe.
The Malbim explains the depth of the matter: there was here a rebuke of moral instruction. You, the king, now want to renovate the Beit HaMikdash, and the renovation of the Beit HaMikdash is the perfection of the House externally. They come and tell him: it is very fine to perfect the Beit HaMikdash externally, but you must know that the main thing is the heart, the main thing is the inner dimension. And therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, comes and says to him, as it were: check also the inner repair of the House, bring the people back in repentance, draw them close to the service of Hashem. And therefore specifically the Torah scroll, which alludes to the inner dimension, which alludes to what is within the Holy of Holies inside the Sanctuary - there the Torah scroll is found - it is the one that comes and alludes and gives them rebuke: beware, there is going to be exile if you do not correct and improve the deeds as well. It is not enough to perfect the Beit HaMikdash in its externality.
"ויבוא שפן הסופר אל המלך וישב את המלך דבר" - first he reports back to him regarding what he had commanded concerning the perfection of the Beit HaMikdash and the taking of the money from the people. And regarding "they melted": the Radak and the Ralbag explain that the meaning is not that they melted it in fire, but from the language of consuming, like "ותיתך חמתי." But this does not seem to be the plain meaning, and it is more reasonable as the Metzudat David says, that the meaning is that they melted the silver to make coins from it. For their coins were not like ours: our coins have no intrinsic value, it is metal, it is iron; whereas their coins were made of gold and silver, and they had intrinsic value. If so, they melted those monies in order to prepare them for the need of renovating the Beit HaMikdash.
"ויגד שפן הסופר למלך לאמר ספר נתן לי חלקיה הכהן" - he tells him that the lost scroll was given to him by Chilkiyahu the priest, "ויקראהו שפן לפני המלך" - and he reads before him the words of the Torah scroll. "ויהי כשמע המלך את דברי ספר התורה ויקרע את בגדיו" - he heard the words of the rebuke, and therefore he rends his garments in dread, for he saw in this a sign and a signal: it is not for nothing that the scroll is open specifically here, they are giving us a sign from Heaven. And what are they signaling to us? What do they want from us?
וַיְצַו הַמֶּלֶךְ אֶת־חִלְקִיָּה הַכֹּהֵן וְאֶת־אֲחִיקָם בֶּן־שָׁפָן וְאֶת־עַכְבּוֹר בֶּן־מִיכָיָה וְאֵת שָׁפָן הַסֹּפֵר וְאֵת עֲשָׂיָה עֶבֶד־הַמֶּלֶךְ לֵאמֹר׃ לְכוּ דִרְשׁוּ אֶת־יְהוָה בַּעֲדִי וּבְעַד־הָעָם וּבְעַד כָּל־יְהוּדָה עַל־דִּבְרֵי הַסֵּפֶר הַנִּמְצָא הַזֶּה כִּי־גְדוֹלָה חֲמַת יְהוָה אֲשֶׁר־הִיא נִצְּתָה בָנוּ עַל אֲשֶׁר לֹא־שָׁמְעוּ אֲבֹתֵינוּ עַל־דִּבְרֵי הַסֵּפֶר הַזֶּה לַעֲשׂוֹת כְּכָל־הַכָּתוּב עָלֵינוּ׃ - And the king commanded Chilkiyah the Kohen, and Achikam son of Shafan, and Achbor son of Michayah, and Shafan the scribe, and Asayah the king's servant, saying: Go, inquire of Hashem on my behalf, and on behalf of the people, and on behalf of all Yehudah, concerning the words of this scroll that has been found, for great is the wrath of Hashem that has been kindled against us, because our fathers did not heed the words of this scroll, to act according to all that is written concerning us.
The king requests: go and inquire of Hashem, meaning go to the prophet, and we will soon see who the prophet is, concerning the words of this Sefer Torah. The meaning is this: what is written here in the Torah hints to us that the wrath of Hashem has been kindled against us, "kindled" from the language of catching fire. "Because our fathers did not heed the words of this scroll, to act according to all that is written concerning us" - that they did not fulfill all that is written here. For Yoshiyahu himself, as we said, was righteous, yet they still bore their own sin and the sin of their fathers, meaning they had not yet been fully purified from the sin of their fathers. Therefore there was a need here for a clear instruction from the prophet: what must we do, and with what must we begin.
וַיֵּלֶךְ חִלְקִיָּהוּ הַכֹּהֵן וַאֲחִיקָם וְעַכְבּוֹר וְשָׁפָן וַעֲשָׂיָה אֶל־חֻלְדָּה הַנְּבִיאָה אֵשֶׁת שַׁלֻּם בֶּן־תִּקְוָה בֶּן־חַרְחַס שֹׁמֵר הַבְּגָדִים וְהִיא יֹשֶׁבֶת בִּירוּשָׁלִַם בַּמִּשְׁנֶה וַיְדַבְּרוּ אֵלֶיהָ׃ - And Chilkiyahu the Kohen, and Achikam, and Achbor, and Shafan, and Asayah went to Chuldah the prophetess, wife of Shalum son of Tikvah son of Charchas, keeper of the wardrobe, and she was dwelling in Yerushalayim in the Mishneh, and they spoke to her.
They go to Chuldah the prophetess. Chazal ask: why did they go to Chuldah? After all, there was a prophet at that time, Yirmiyahu. Why did he not send to inquire of Yirmiyahu? Chazal say: he reasoned, Chuldah is a woman, and a woman is more compassionate than a man, therefore go to Chuldah. And this is a great wonder: what difference does it make that a woman is more compassionate? She receives prophecy, and prophecy is what Hashem says. Does Hashem give better prophecies to women and less good ones to men? Rather, the explanation is this: since a woman is more compassionate, she will pray for us. If we go to a man, the prophet will tell us thus and thus said Hashem, and that is the end of it; but if it is a woman, she will stand and plead on our behalf, because she is more compassionate and her heart is moved for us, and through this the negative message here will be nullified.
There is another explanation, that Yirmiyahu was not there but had gone to bring back the ten tribes. And this depends on the dispute whether the ten tribes returned or did not return: some say the ten tribes returned and were exiled again, and some say they did not return.
Chuldah was the wife of Shalum son of Tikvah son of Charchas, keeper of the wardrobe, and she was dwelling in Yerushalayim in the Mishneh. What is "dwelling in the Mishneh"? There are several explanations of this. Targum Yonatan explains "in the house of study," a place where they study and review the Torah, that is, the beit midrash. There is an explanation that she was sitting at the gate, which is called the Gate of Chuldah, named after Chuldah the prophetess who sat there. Some say that "in the Mishneh" means outside the wall, between the two walls, like a secondary section of the city, the second thing to the city. Some explain "in the Mishneh" that she was teaching the Oral Torah to the elders of the generation, Mishneh from the language of Mishnah. And some explain that she was studying Mishneh Torah, that is, the book of Devarim, "From these are the words" - which is a review and repetition of the entire Torah, in which Moshe surveys the Torah from its beginning, from "these are the words" until "before the eyes of all Yisrael"; and she would expound it publicly, revealing and explaining the punishments and the exiles written there and all that is stated there, and this is the meaning of "in the Mishneh."
Chazal say that three prophets prophesied in the days of Yoshiyahu: Yirmiyah, Tzefanyah, and Chuldah. Yirmiyah would prophesy in the marketplaces; Tzefanyah, from the language of "hidden," would prophesy in the synagogues; and Chuldah would prophesy to the women. And the Gemara says, Rav Nachman said: greatness does not befit women. There were two women who possessed a high level of prophecy, and both had names that are not pleasant: one is called Ziburta, and one Karkushta. Ziburta is Devorah, Karkushta is Chuldah - names of animals that are not pure. And why do you say that greatness does not befit them? The Gemara says: because both of them were haughty.
And let us not err: we are speaking of a prophet, and the Rambam says that a prophet is a person over whom his inclination does not prevail in any matter in the world. Rather, when haughtiness is spoken of here, it is measured against the greatness of their level, and they were held accountable in the finest of fine details, as it is said of Moshe "because you did not believe in Me." And what was the haughtiness? Devorah sent to Barak son of Avinoam and did not go to him, but sent word that he should come to her, even though he was in fact the leader. And Chuldah - we will look at her words.
וַתֹּאמֶר אֲלֵיהֶם כֹּה־אָמַר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אִמְרוּ לָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר־שָׁלַח אֶתְכֶם אֵלָי׃ - And she said to them, So says Hashem, the God of Israel: Tell the man who sent you to me.
What is meant by "the man who sent you to me"? Does he not have a name? Say to the king! Speak respectfully. But she did not speak respectfully; rather she said "the man" - tell this fellow, which is a somewhat dismissive way of speaking. This is why the Gemara says that they acted with a bit of arrogance.
כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה הִנְנִי מֵבִיא רָעָה אֶל־הַמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה וְעַל־יֹשְׁבָיו אֵת כָּל־דִּבְרֵי הַסֵּפֶר אֲשֶׁר קָרָא מֶלֶךְ יְהוּדָה׃ - So says Hashem: Behold, I am bringing evil upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the words of the book that the king of Yehudah has read.
Everything he read in that section of rebuke is truly a negative sign, a bad sign, that I will bring this evil. And the punishment will be measure for measure, as it is written there, "and there you will serve other gods that you did not know, wood and stone": you wanted to serve other gods - you will be exiled among the nations. All that the king of Yehudah read.
תַּחַת אֲשֶׁר עֲזָבוּנִי וַיְקַטְּרוּ לֵאלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים לְמַעַן הַכְעִיסֵנִי בְּכֹל מַעֲשֵׂה יְדֵיהֶם וְנִצְּתָה חֲמָתִי בַּמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה וְלֹא תִכְבֶּה׃ - Because they have forsaken Me and burned incense to other gods, so as to anger Me with all the work of their hands, My wrath is kindled against this place and it shall not be quenched.
וְאֶל־מֶלֶךְ יְהוּדָה הַשֹּׁלֵחַ אֶתְכֶם לִדְרֹשׁ אֶת־יְהוָה כֹּה תֹאמְרוּ אֵלָיו כֹּה־אָמַר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל הַדְּבָרִים אֲשֶׁר שָׁמָעְתָּ׃ - And to the king of Yehudah who sent you to inquire of Hashem, so shall you say to him: So says Hashem, the God of Israel, concerning the words that you have heard.
That is: what you heard, when they read the verse "Hashem will lead you and your king" - so says Hashem, the words that you heard will indeed come to pass.
יַעַן רַךְ־לְבָבְךָ וַתִּכָּנַע מִפְּנֵי יְהוָה בְּשָׁמְעֲךָ אֲשֶׁר דִּבַּרְתִּי עַל־הַמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה וְעַל־יֹשְׁבָיו לִהְיוֹת לְשַׁמָּה וְלִקְלָלָה וַתִּקְרַע אֶת־בְּגָדֶיךָ וַתִּבְכֶּה לְפָנָי וְגַם אָנֹכִי שָׁמַעְתִּי נְאֻם־יְהוָה׃ - Because your heart was soft and you humbled yourself before Hashem when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you tore your garments and wept before Me, I also have heard, says Hashem.
The Holy One, blessed be He, tells him: Since your heart was soft - and we see from here how great is the power of a single pang of remorse in a person's heart, that one act of breaking breaks his heart. A harsh and terrible decree should have come, but your heart was soft, you humbled yourself when you heard the words, you tore your garments, you wept before Hashem - and I too have heard, says Hashem. The decree was annulled. And note regarding whom it was annulled: regarding him, but not regarding the people.
לָכֵן הִנְנִי אֹסִפְךָ עַל־אֲבֹתֶיךָ וְנֶאֱסַפְתָּ אֶל־קִבְרֹתֶיךָ בְּשָׁלוֹם וְלֹא־תִרְאֶינָה עֵינֶיךָ בְּכֹל הָרָעָה אֲשֶׁר־אֲנִי מֵבִיא עַל־הַמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה וַיָּשִׁבוּ אֶת־הַמֶּלֶךְ דָּבָר׃ - Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the evil that I am bringing upon this place. And they brought back word to the king.
First: this will not happen in your days. Second: this will not happen to you. And why? Because you truly humbled yourself. Therefore He tells him: behold, I will gather you to your fathers and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and you shall not see all the evil that I am bringing upon this place.
This is very puzzling, for we will see later that Yoshiyahu was killed in battle, and that does not quite fit the description of "you shall be gathered to your grave in peace." There are two explanations for this. One explanation: "in peace" means that the Beit HaMikdash will not be destroyed in his days, and your eyes will not see that trouble that will befall the people of Israel; that is the "in peace." But not that you will pass away on your bed, for that was not promised to him. A further explanation is that of the Malbim: "I will gather you to your fathers" means that you will merit that your soul will rise to a high level, to the level of your righteous forefathers; that is one thing. And the second thing, "you shall be gathered to your grave in peace," one must be precise in the wording: not that the death will be in peace, but that they will bury you in peace. That is to say, not like a man who dies on the battlefield and is buried there in the war, wherever it may be, but they will take him and bury him in the graves of the kings. And this we will see later, that they took him to the graves of the kings and buried him there in the graves of his fathers. If so, according to this "in peace" refers to being gathered to the graves of his fathers, but the death itself truly was not in peace.
King Yoshiyahu, who ascended to the throne at the age of eight and walked in all the way of David his forefather, initiated the strengthening of the repairs of the Temple and handed the money over to trustworthy men who did not need to give an accounting. In the course of the renovation work, the Sefer Torah was found in the sanctuary, and according to the Metzudat David the main wonder was that it was found open specifically at the top of the column of the rebuke, "Hashem will lead you and your king" - a sign from Heaven. The Malbim teaches the message: it is not enough to externally perfect the Beit HaMikdash, rather an inner repair of the house is needed - bringing the people back in teshuvah and repairing the heart. Yoshiyahu tore his garments and humbled himself, sent to seek Hashem through Chuldah the prophetess, and even though the decree upon the place and its inhabitants was not annulled, in the merit of "your heart was soft" the evil was pushed off from his days and from him - testimony to the power of a single stirring of remorse in the heart of a person.