Bible Strands
2 Kings 22:10
Moreover, Shaphan the scribe told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it in the presence of the king.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Shaphan the scribe reports to King Josiah that Hilkiah the priest has handed him a scroll, and Shaphan reads its contents aloud in the king's presence.
The words — The Hebrew verb וַיַּגֵּד (va.yaggēd, H5046) means “he told” or “he reported,” and סֵפֶר (sēp̄er, H5612) denotes the physical scroll or book delivered by Hilkiah.
The thread — The chain of custody for a discovered scroll parallels Jeremiah 36:21, where a scroll is retrieved from a scribe’s chamber for reading, while Deuteronomy 31:9 records Moses giving the law to priests for preservation.
Why it lands — The text records a factual sequence of delivery and public reading that directly triggers the king’s reaction in the following verse, requiring the reader to observe how written words enter royal awareness.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Shaphan the scribe shewed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 36:21 Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it from the chamber of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi read it in the hearing of the king and all the officials who were standing beside him.
- Deuteronomy 17:18 When he is seated on his royal throne, he must write for himself a copy of this instruction on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests.
- Deuteronomy 31:9 So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel.
- 2 Chronicles 34:18 Moreover, Shaphan the scribe told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it in the presence of the king.
- Nehemiah 8:1 At that time all the people gathered together in the square before the Water Gate, and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded for Israel.
- Nehemiah 8:14 And they found written in the Law, which the LORD had commanded through Moses, that the Israelites were to dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month,
- Nehemiah 8:18 Day after day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God. The Israelites kept the feast for seven days, and on the eighth day they held an assembly, according to the ordinance.
- Nehemiah 13:1 At that time the Book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing of the people, and in it they found the passage stating that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God,
- Jeremiah 13:18 Say to the king and to the queen mother: “Take a lowly seat, for your glorious crowns have fallen from your heads.”
- Jeremiah 22:1 This is what the LORD says: “Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and proclaim this message there,