מלכים ב, פרק כ״ב, פסוק י׳

The presentation of a newly discovered ancient text to a king is a moment of great anticipation. Shaphan the scribe brings the found Torah scroll to the king's attention and begins to read its contents aloud [מדוד ועד לחורבן]. In his report, Shaphan notes that Hilkiah the priest handed him the lost document already unrolled and set to a specific section. Consequently, Shaphan reads to the king directly from that very page where the scroll was left open [מצודת דוד].

While the king presumably knew how to read, he does not examine the text himself. The fact that Shaphan takes on the task of reading aloud is likely due to the physical state of the scroll. Because the document had been hidden away in a remote corner of the royal treasuries, its condition had deteriorated, making the writing quite difficult to decipher [ביאור שטיינזלץ].