This uncertainty as to the chronology is of less importance, as the interest of H.'s reign, in the ligiit both of prophecy and the Assyr. records, practically closes with the invasion in 701. Even if we suppose him to have lived till C86 (as the later date for his accession would imply), we gain little or no additional information remvrding the events of his reign. Assuming that II. came to the throne in 727, it was as a young and inex- perienced prince in the midst of faitlile.«s and time- serving politicians, who scorned the teaching of the prophets, and a like-minded priesthood. The deplorable state of morality and religion is evident from Mic 1 If. (cf. Is 28) delivered on the eve of the siege of Samaria, i.e. about 725. These testimonies, as well as the fact that the anti-prophetic party continued in the ascendant till 701, oblige us to receive with caution the circumstantial account given by the Chronicler (2 Ch 29'"^) of the reforms etlected by H. in the very first year of his reign. He is saitl to have purified and refurnished the temple, which had been shut up by Ahaz after being despoiled of its treasures, to have renewed the ancient sacrifices with great maLjuilicence and pomp, to have ordained a joyful celebration of the long-neglected I'assover, after purging Jerus. of its idolatrous altars and sending out invitstiona
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377
to tlie Tsnielitcs in the north, ' the remnant tliat had estaiicd out of the liamls of the kinj; of Assyria ' So great was the enthusiasm said to have been evoked that it led to a j;eneral crusade against the images and allars and hiL'li places in tlie cities of Judah and Benjamin, lC|diraim and Jlanasseh, both king and people at llie same time givingevideticeof their devotion by their munilicent provision of tithes and ollerings tor the support of the jiriests and Levites, who were now carefully registered and organized. The only part of these reforms that is recognized in K is the removal of 'high places' and destruction of 'pillars' and ' A.-herah ' ('2 K IS'--'-), but a remarkable instance of II. s zeal for jiurity of worship is also given (v.'') in his destruction of ' the brazen serjient that Moses had made' which had become an object of worship in J-rusalem (see NeHUSTAN).
While it is generally admitted that H. paved the way for the reformation carried out by Josiali in the next century, not only prohibiting idolatry, but seeking to centralize the national worship by destroying the local sanctuaries in the provincial cities of .luilah, around which heathen practices were apt to gather (cf. Mic !» 5'--'^, Is 3U-» 31" 1-" •2-"), it is held by Wellhausen, W. K. Smith, Nowack, Stade, and others, that the reforms could only have taken place after the A.ssyrian invasion, w hich brought dishonour on the provinces, but was the means of exalting Jerus. and glorifying its protecting deity, thus counteracting the idolatrous tendencies inherited from the previous reign. In proof that the reformation could not have been earlier, they cite the allusions to prevalent idolatry iu such late pro])hecies of Isaiah as .'iO-" 31' (c. 702). These indeed show that the reformation had been far from perfect (cf. 2 K '23" and revulsion under Mana.sseh), being largely due to royal command ; but the whole traditional account of H.'s reign points to an earlier date for his turning to J'. Cf. Jer •20'*'- already referred to, the eulogistic summary in 2 K IS^"", H.'s plea for divine favour in 2m^ and the demolition of high places, etc., ascribed to him by the Uabshakeh in 18--, which, even if an inter- polation (Cheyne), was not likely to be introduced unless it had some basis of tradition to rest on.
In addition to his work as a religious reformer, 11. revived in .some measure the glories of his great- grandfather Uzziali by successful inroads upon the Philistines, over one of whose cities (Ekron) we tind him in 7U1 holding a position of suzerainty ; b}' his care for the interests of national defence, repairing the walls and fortilications of Jerus., lilting up arsenals, constructing aqueducts and reservoirs for securing to .)erus., and cutting oil' from besiegers, a permanent supply of water ; by building cities, and encouraging trade and agri- culture through the erection of shelters for sheep and cattle and of store - houses for produce. Whether the underground tunnel leading from Cihon (the modern ' Kountain of the Virgin') to the upper pool of Siloam (17U8 ft. Ion", and a work of great engineering skill) is to be iJentilied with ' the conduit' mentioned in '2 K '20'" as the work of II., and a|i|>arently referred to in 2 Ch 32^ (cf. 3'2* 22^-" and Sir 48"), is still a moot point, dillerent oi)inions beinp held by experts as to the age of the inscription (discovereil in 18SU) at the mouth of the t\innel, which is in round characters and in ohl Hebrew but bears no date,* the question being also complicated by the mention of an alreaily existing Shiloah in Is 8", on which see Dillnuinu » note, and Stade, G VI 5'J3 f.
Among the merits which tradition assigned to H. was a taste for music and literature. In hia
• See PSBA. Jlay, July. 1S07, Feb. 1803 (paper« by PilchiT, Condor, Dttvin), and Eiuot. Tiinft, Apr. 189S, p. Wi t, and Muy 18 M, p. S84 (the latter by A. a UkvldWD).