"Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years." (2 Kings 22:1a, 2 Chronicles 34:1) Despite his young age at his coronation, his will not be the longest reign of all of the kings of Judah (that honor goes to his grandfather, Manasseh, who ruled the land for fifty-five years) but he will be a good king and the nation will be blessed to have him on the throne for over three decades.
"His mother's name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah; she was from Bozkath." (2 Kings 22:1b) This is the only time in the Bible that this woman with a Hebrew name from a small town of Judah is ever mentioned. But I suspect she was a godly woman who had a great deal of good influence on Josiah. Her husband, Amon, was a very wicked man who could not have set anything but a bad example for his son, but somehow Amon ended up married to a good Jewish woman.
How did it come about that one of the most evil kings married a nice girl? I think Jedidah was likely selected for Amon, either by a family member, a priest, a prophet, or a godly official of the royal court. It was typical for marriages to be arranged in those times and although I doubt that the exceptionally idolatrous Amon was excited about having a woman of God for his queen, it is to the advantage of his successor and to the advantage of the nation that this occurred, for I have a feeling that Jedidah planted seeds of faith in the young King Josiah's mind. Since he was only eight years old when he ascended to the throne, he would have been used to spending most of his time in the company of his mother and his teachers. His father did not expect to be struck down in his prime at only twenty-four and would not have yet put a great deal of effort into training a boy of eight to take the reigns of the nation.
Due, at least in part, to the hard work of a godly mother, Josiah follows the Lord. "He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and followed completely the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left." (2 Kings 22:2, 2 Chronicles 34:4) Josiah's biological father was a sinful man with no regard for the Lord. The young king is far more like his forefather David than his own father; therefore, the Scripture writers skip over the generations that came in between these two kings and compare Josiah to David. We are aware that David was not a perfect man (he committed two particularly shocking sins on the pages of the Bible in addition to more common sins) but he never dabbled in idolatry. His heart was faithful to the Lord all his life. He made some mistakes but always repented and got back on track, never once considering forsaking the Lord. He never turned aside to the right or to the left and Josiah has that in common with him.
Many Bible scholars speculate that Jedidah, the Queen Mother, could have co-reigned with her son until he came of age. This happened in other nations of that time and it's not unreasonable to think that she sat at his right hand at court, praying for him and providing godly wisdom and aiding him in his decisions. You may recall that King Solomon, though he was a young adult when he became king, would call for a throne to be placed at his right hand for his mother to sit on when she was in his court. (1 Kings 2:19) In Solomon's case this may have been simply a gesture of honor and respect but, considering that he was only around the age of eighteen or twenty when crowned king, he may have welcomed his mother's comforting presence and support at his side when he heard cases at court. Whether or not Jedidah co-reigned with her son, I think she was a constant presence in his life and a source of godly encouragement. I am sure that the royal officials, the prophets, and the priests were sources of encouragement and advice to the young king as well, but I can't help wanting to give a great deal of credit to a woman who is named only once in the Scriptures. Perhaps that's because I had a godly mother myself who taught me about the Lord at such a young age that I can't recall a time when I didn't know about the Lord. My mother sowed seeds that bore fruit in time, causing me to want to know the Lord she served. I enjoy thinking that Josiah's mother did the same for him.
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