that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD, to do according unto all that is written in this book. 22So Hilkiah, and they whom the king had commanded, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of [1]Tokhath, the son of [2]Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the [3]second quarter;) and they spake to her to that effect. 23And she said unto them, Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel: Tell ye the man that sent you unto me, 24Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah: 25because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to
that is poured out upon us] In 2 Kin. "that is kindled against us," so LXX. ἐκκέκαυται. Cp. ver. 25.
22. had commanded] These words, which are obviously required, are not in the Heb.: the verb āmar has fallen out of the text by some accident.
the prophetess] This title is given to Miriam (Ex. xv. 20), Deborah (Judg. iv. 4), Anna (Luke ii. 36); cp. also Neh. vi. 14; Rev. ii. 20.
Tokhath] In 2 Kin. Tikvah.
Hasrah] In 2 Kin. Harhas.
keeper of the wardrobe] Lit. "keeper of the garments." The Heb. word for garments (bĕgādim]) is applied to a king's robes (xviii. 29), to a high-priest's vestments (Ex. xxviii. 2, 4), and to clothes in general; it is therefore not easy to say what office precisely is here referred to. Perhaps the garments here meant were ecclesiastical and not royal. There is ample evidence that ancient temples possessed a store of ceremonial garments for the use not only of the worshippers but also of the images, cp. 2 Kin. x. 22, and generally the Ency. Brit.11 s.v. costume, pp. 230 a, 231 b. As early as the VIth dynasty an Egyptian priest is mentioned as "master of the wardrobe."
in the second quarter] Or, in the second division. Cp. Zeph. i. 10. The physical configuration of ancient Jerusalem was such that it might naturally be regarded as divided into two districts, the eastern and western, with the valley of the Tyropœon between. Cp. Neh. iii. 9, 12, and also Neh. xi. 9 (with Ryle's note on second over the city, which should probably be rendered over the second part of the city).
24. all the curses] Deut. xxvii. 15—26, xxviii. 15—68.
