The Death of Josiah: Cultural Trauma and Social Identity in the Book of Chronicles

Abstract

Most scholars would agree that Josiah’s death in the Book of Chronicles is negatively portrayed, especially as contrasted with his laudable Passover. But why should the king par excellence, according to 2 Kings, die such an ignominious death in the Chronicler’s portrayal? By applying a methodological framework derived from cultural trauma theory in its relation to social identity theory, this dissertation argues that the Chronicler’s negative recounting of Josiah’s death not only marks the initiation of cultural trauma for the Chronicler’s community but ends by encouraging the hopeful alleviation of the community’s enduring cultural trauma. In analysing the Chronicler’s markers of cultural trauma within the context of the social identities that appear in the genealogies and subsequent narratives in the book of Chronicles, the failure of Josiah can be most clearly seen in his seeking battle with Pharaoh Neco without seeking YHWH. Not only did Josiah fail to heed the word of God not to confront Neco, but his very disobedience initiates the cultural trauma experienced through the fall of Jerusalem and subsequent forced migration, which follows swiftly after the death of Josiah according to the Chronicler. In turn, the narrative of Josiah’s death is connected to the cultural trauma of the broader community primarily through the appearance of Jeremiah. The first reference of Jeremiah in the book of Chronicles has him issuing a lament in the wake of Josiah’s death (2 Chr 35:25), while Jeremiah’s final reference recounts the fulfilment of his prophecy of “seventy years” rest (2 Chr 36:21-22) signalling the end of forced migration in the wake of the fall of Jerusalem. At the same time, by examining the Chronicler’s markers of cultural trauma, this dissertation presents evidence that the Chronicler is seeking to recategorize the community within a superordinate identity of “all Israel” as a means to alleviate their cultural trauma that was initiated and symbolised by the death of Josiah.