King Josiah – The Karaite

It might sound presumptuous to refer to a Biblical figure as a Karaite. But I believe the story of King Josiah informs us of someone who observed the written Law only.

In 2 Kings 23, we are told precisely what Josiah was practicing:

2 And the king went up to the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great; and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD.

3 And the king stood on the platform, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep His commandments, and His testimonies, and His statutes, with all his heart, and all his soul, to confirm the words of this covenant that were written in this book; and all the people stood to the covenant.

The above 2 verses define which texts and laws Josiah was declaring – these are the Law written in the Book (Torah) found in the Temple.

Had there been an additional or accompanying Oral Law, it would surely have been mentioned here. Had the Hebrew Book been incomprehensible to native Hebrew speaker Josiah, surely it would be mentioned that he didn’t understand it without the Oral Law. It is true that in Ch. 22 the King and Priests approached Huldah the Prophetess, but this was to enquire as to the significance of the curses they uncovered in  the Torah.  She relayed the prophecy that the destruction would take place in the near future. She was not required to explain how to slaughter animals or read without vowels.

Further in Ch 23 we see:

25 And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.

Since we know that Josiah  kept the written Law,  the verse above teaches that this was all the Law of Moses.  Had there been an oral law, especially at this juncture, it would be important to reinaugurate the dual Torah system.  However it was not so. We can thus safely conclude that Josiah was a Karaite king.