Josiah's Reform and the Dynamics of Defilement

Lauren Monroe argues that the use of cultic and ritual language in the account of the Judean King Josiah's reforms in 2 Kings 22-23 is key to understanding the history of the text's composition, and illuminates the essential, interrelated processes of textual growth and identity construction in ancient Israel.

Chapter 1: Destructive Rituals and the Creative Process: The Dynamics of Defilement in 2 Kings 23; Chapter 2: Priestly Rites of Elimination and the Holiness: Core of 2 Kings 23:4-20; Chapter 3: Herem Ideology and the Politics of Destruction: Josiah's Reform in Deuteronomistic Perspective; Chapter 4: The Mechanics of Transformation: The Holiness Substratum and Deuteronomistic Revision of 2 King 23:4-20; Chapter 5: Literary, Historiographic and Historical Implications