When was the Law of Moses rediscovered?

Answer 1

Never, since it was never lost. We Jews have had it, learned it, cherished it and obeyed it since it was given by God 3300 years ago.

• The incorrect Answer which you are looking for, is "During the reign of Josiah" (around 2500 years ago).

Why is that incorrect?

Firstly, the academic claim concerning Josiah refers only to Deuteronomy. There are secular scholars who theorize that a book which was found in Josiah's time (2 Kings ch.22) was Deuteronomy and that it became part of Judaism and the Torah at that time. This and similar theories (such as Joshua, Judges etc being composed in that late era), are not backed up by any physical evidence.

The fact that Josiah "made reforms" is misinterpreted by some, as meaning that he started something new in Judaism. That is not the case. Rather, he simply swept away the incursions that idolatrous misbehavior had made (2 Chronicles 34:3-7) into part of the populace, exactly as Samuel had done (1 Samuel 7:3-4), as well as Asa (2 Chronicles 15:8), Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 17:6), and Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:4).

Answer 2

Never, since it was never lost. We Jews have had it, learned it, cherished it and obeyed it since it was given by God 3300 years ago.
The incorrect Answer which you are looking for, is "During the reign of Josiah" (around 2500 years ago).

Why is that incorrect?

Firstly, the academic claim concerning Josiah refers only to Deuteronomy. There are secular scholars who theorize that a book which was found in Josiah's time (2 Kings ch.22) was Deuteronomy and that it became part of Judaism and the Torah at that time. This and similar theories (such as Joshua, Judges etc being composed in that late era), are not backed up by any physical evidence.

In addition:

1) The entire Torah, was taught by God to Moses (Exodus 24:12), and Moses wrote in its entirety (Deuteronomy 31:24). King Josiah lived more than eight centuries later.
2 a) There were hundreds - probably thousands - of Torah scrolls possessed by the Jewish people, just like today.
b) The wicked King Amon (Josiah's father) had burned copies of the Torah (Talmud, Sanhedrin 103b), so it was understandable that King Yoshiah was thrilled when he found a scroll (see 2 Kings ch.22: the whole Torah, not just Deuteronomy) right there in the Temple grounds, which had escaped Amon's recent depredation.
c) Yoshiah was agitated because the scroll was found rolled to the prophecy concerning the eventual exile (see Talmud, Yoma 52b); and because it was the very scroll which had been written by Moses himself (2 Chronicles 34:14).
d) Deuteronomy, along with the rest of the Torah, existed long before the time of Yoshiah. Two centuries earlier, when King Amatziah killed the assassins of his father Joash, he spared their children "as is written that fathers shall not die because of their children and children shall not die because of their fathers" (2 Kings 14:6), which is a quote from Deuteronomy (24:16).

Also, Joshua 22:5 quotes Deut.11:22, Joshua 23:16 quotes Deut.11:17, Judges 1:20 fulfills Deut.1:36, Judges 7:3 fulfills the command of Deut.20:8, 1 Kings 8:51 quotes Deut.4:20, and 1 Kings 9:8-9 quotes Deut.29:23-24.

3) The fact that Josiah "made reforms" is misinterpreted by some, as meaning that he started something new in Judaism. That is not the case. Rather, he simply swept away the incursions that idolatrous misbehavior had made (2 Chronicles 34:3-7) into part of the populace, exactly as Samuel had done (1 Samuel 7:3-4), as well as Asa (2 Chronicles 15:8), Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 17:6), and Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:4).

See also the Related Links.

Link: Refuting Bible-criticism

Link: Were the Israelites monotheistic