Josiah, one of the kings of Judah, was the son of Amon and Jedidah, and succeeded his father at the age of eight in 641 B.C. He grew up an ardent religious reformer, and purged Judah and
Jerusalem from idolatry. It was in his reign that Hilkiah the high-priest is said to have discovered the 'Book of the Torah,' by which some understand Deuteronomy, others Exodus, and others again the whole Pentateuch. The king now vigorously re-established the worship of Jehovah, and instituted the rites in the newly-discovered book. He met his death at Megiddo, in the valley of Esdraelon, when attempting to check the advance of Pharaoh-Necho against the Assyrians, 609 B.C. Josiah was the last of the good kings of Judah. In his days prophesied Jeremiah and Zephaniah.