editors of her posthumously published Prophets and Kings in 1917 seem to have used this material in compiling the book, including the notion that Huldah lived “near the temple” (p. 398).
Biblical Fiction I conclude with the description of Huldah, an imaginative biblical novel by Adventist author Lois N. Erickson. Like her similar volumes on Leah, Zipporah, and Hannah, this 125-page book, deriving from one sentence in the KJV that mentions the “college,” is a fantasy on the life and career of this shadowy figure. Advertisements of the book in Adventist Review include this description: “From the moment she disguised herself to sneak him to the Temple, Huldah seemed destined to play a leading role in young Josiah’s life. Trough the Assyrian capture of King Manasseh and the evil reign and assassination of Prince Amon, she had risked all to secretly teach him the will of God.”14 Erickson fictionally develops Huldah’s educational role. Here
are some excerpts from page 63 of her book: [Te king:] “From now on I want you to enlarge your school to
include the wives and daughters of my captains and city officials.’” [Te king:] “‘See those gates that lead into the royal court and
the palace? I will send out a proclamation that certain women shall attend your school, and I will instruct my guards to allow them through those gates.’ He turned away from the window, [adding:] ‘From now on you will no longer use Sumerian writings. You will teach the history of our people, using scrolls that I keep in my library.’ “In the passageways, Huldah walked with her head up and a
smile on her lips. My school! I can teach from Hebrew scrolls—the prophecies of Isaiah and history from our chronicles. “In the months that followed, Huldah greeted each day in
happy anticipation of satisfying hours with her students. Te school flourished. Women from the city came to learn.” In his review of Erickson’s novel, Andrews University professor
Scott Moncrieff describes it as “Biblical fiction—full-blown narrative compatible with scanty scriptural sources.”15
For this
volume published in 1991, as well as for Erickson’s other titles, Review and Herald Publishing followed the industry practice of whitewashing protagonists on book covers, so that the cover features the image of a young, 20th-century Caucasian woman instead of an ancient, Semitic female. My account of Adventist fascination with Huldah spans 130- plus years of embracing a mistranslation in the KJV. It started
WWW .A T OD A Y . OR G 23
in 1858 with the notion that Huldah was a “professor in the theological seminary at Jerusalem” and ended with a novel that imagines her role in the education of Jewish women in the 7th century BCE. Some managed to reflect the biblical story without distortion,
but others used this woman’s prophetic role to justify the career and ministry of Ellen White. All of this occurred within Adventism, long aſter biblical scholars had concluded that “in the college” in 2 Kings 22:14 and 2 Chronicles 34:22 of the KJV was a mistranslation for something like “in the second quarter” of the city.
1 A. S. Hutchins, “Huldah the Prophetess,” Review and Herald, Vol. 60, No. 25 (19 Jun 1883), p. 2. 2 “On Keeping Silence: Ought Women to Keep Silence in the Churches?” Review and Herald, Vol. 13, No. 4 (Dec. 16, 1858), p. 27. 3 A. T. Jones, “Notes on the International Lesson. 2 Kings 22:1-13. Josiah and the Book of the Law,” Te Signs of the Times, Vol. 11, No. 49 (Dec. 24, 1885), p. 6. 4 Jones, Te Empires of the Bible from the Confusion of Tongues to the Babylonian Captivity (1897), p. 382. 5 “Studies in the Book of Daniel,” Review and Herald, Vol. 75, No. 5 (Feb. 1, 1898), pp. 8-9. Tis unsigned article, which starts on the editorial page that lists Jones as one of the editors, is most likely his because of its similarity to his later book. Te second quoted paragraph is almost identical to one in Alonzo T. Jones, Te Place of the Bible in Education: An Appeal to Christians (1903), p. 81. 6 John N. Loughborough, Spiritual Giſts (1899), p. 8. 7 Stephen N. Haskell, Bible Handbook (1919), p. 143. 8 Arthur G. Daniells, Te Abiding Giſt of Prophecy (1936), p. 133. 9 Roger W. Coon, Ellen G. White’s View of the Role of Women in the S.D.A.
Church (1986), p. 14. 10
Vol. 125, No. 18 (Apr. 29, 1948), p. 5. 11
(July 22, 1915), p. 4. 14
W. A. Spicer, “Counsels of Reform, Ancient and Modern,” Review and Herald, Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Vol. 2 (1954), p. 121.
12 Seventh-day Adventist Bible Dictionary, rev. ed. (1979), s.v. “Second Quarter.” 13 Ellen G. White, “Te Book of the Law,” Review and Herald, Vol. 92, No. 36
Adventist Review (May 16, 1991; May 23, 1991; June 20, 1991). 15 Scott Moncrieff, “Holiday Reading,” Adventist Review, Vol. 171, No. 48 (December 1994), p. 14.
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