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Texts -- 2 Kings 23:1-28 (NET)

Context
The King Institutes Religious Reform
23:1 The king summoned all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem . 23:2 The king went up to the Lord’s temple , accompanied by all the people of Judah , all the residents of Jerusalem , the priests , and the prophets . All the people were there, from the youngest to the oldest . He read aloud all the words of the scroll of the covenant that had been discovered in the Lord’s temple . 23:3 The king stood by the pillar and renewed the covenant before the Lord , agreeing to follow the Lord and to obey his commandments , laws , and rules with all his heart and being , by carrying out the terms of this covenant recorded on this scroll . All the people agreed to keep the covenant . 23:4 The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest , the high-ranking priests , and the guards to bring out of the Lord’s temple all the items that were used in the worship of Baal , Asherah , and all the stars of the sky . The king burned them outside of Jerusalem in the terraces of Kidron , and carried their ashes to Bethel . 23:5 He eliminated the pagan priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to offer sacrifices on the high places in the cities of Judah and in the area right around Jerusalem . (They offered sacrifices to Baal , the sun god, the moon god, the constellations , and all the stars in the sky .) 23:6 He removed the Asherah pole from the Lord’s temple and took it outside Jerusalem to the Kidron Valley , where he burned it. He smashed it to dust and then threw the dust in the public graveyard . 23:7 He tore down the quarters of the male cultic prostitutes in the Lord’s temple , where women were weaving shrines for Asherah . 23:8 He brought all the priests from the cities of Judah and ruined the high places where the priests had offered sacrifices , from Geba to Beer Sheba . He tore down the high place of the goat idols situated at the entrance of the gate of Joshua , the city official , on the left side of the city gate . 23:9 (Now the priests of the high places did not go up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem , but they did eat unleavened cakes among their fellow priests.) 23:10 The king ruined Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom so that no one could pass his son or his daughter through the fire to Molech . 23:11 He removed from the entrance to the Lord’s temple the statues of horses that the kings of Judah had placed there in honor of the sun god. (They were kept near the room of Nathan Melech the eunuch , which was situated among the courtyards .) He burned up the chariots devoted to the sun god. 23:12 The king tore down the altars the kings of Judah had set up on the roof of Ahaz’s upper room , as well as the altars Manasseh had set up in the two courtyards of the Lord’s temple . He crushed them up and threw the dust in the Kidron Valley . 23:13 The king ruined the high places east of Jerusalem , south of the Mount of Destruction , that King Solomon of Israel had built for the detestable Sidonian goddess Astarte , the detestable Moabite god Chemosh , and the horrible Ammonite god Milcom . 23:14 He smashed the sacred pillars to bits, cut down the Asherah pole , and filled those shrines with human bones . 23:15 He also tore down the altar in Bethel at the high place made by Jeroboam son of Nebat , who encouraged Israel to sin . He burned all the combustible items at that high place and crushed them to dust ; including the Asherah pole . 23:16 When Josiah turned around , he saw the tombs there on the hill . So he ordered the bones from the tombs to be brought ; he burned them on the altar and defiled it. This fulfilled the Lord’s announcement made by the prophet while Jeroboam stood by the altar during a festival. King Josiah turned and saw the grave of the prophet who had foretold this . 23:17 He asked , “What is this grave marker I see ?” The men from the city replied , “It’s the grave of the prophet who came from Judah and foretold these very things you have done to the altar of Bethel .” 23:18 The king said , “Leave it alone ! No one must touch his bones .” So they left his bones undisturbed , as well as the bones of the Israelite prophet buried beside him. 23:19 Josiah also removed all the shrines on the high places in the cities of Samaria . The kings of Israel had made them and angered the Lord. He did to them what he had done to the high place in Bethel . 23:20 He sacrificed all the priests of the high places on the altars located there , and burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem . 23:21 The king ordered all the people , “Observe the Passover of the Lord your God , as prescribed in this scroll of the covenant .” 23:22 He issued this edict because a Passover like this had not been observed since the days of the judges ; it was neglected for the entire period of the kings of Israel and Judah . 23:23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah’s reign, such a Passover of the Lord was observed in Jerusalem . 23:24 Josiah also got rid of the ritual pits used to conjure up spirits , the magicians , personal idols , disgusting images , and all the detestable idols that had appeared in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem . In this way he carried out the terms of the law recorded on the scroll that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the Lord’s temple . 23:25 No king before or after repented before the Lord as he did, with his whole heart , soul , and being in accordance with the whole law of Moses . 23:26 Yet the Lord’s great anger against Judah did not subside ; he was still infuriated by all the things Manasseh had done . 23:27 The Lord announced , “I will also spurn Judah , just as I spurned Israel . I will reject this city that I chose – both Jerusalem and the temple , about which I said , “I will live there .” 23:28 The rest of the events of Josiah’s reign and all his accomplishments are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah .

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • Moses broke the tablets of the law (v. 19) symbolizing the fact that Israel had broken its covenant with Yahweh. He then proceeded to destroy the golden calf, the symbol of the illicit covenant into which they had entered (cf...
  • Emphasis shifts in this chapter from ceremonial defilement (ch. 17) to moral impurity. The Lord wanted His people to be holy in their behavior and character as well as in less important ritual observances (cf. Matt. 23:28; Ro...
  • 1:22-26 The writer described Ephraim and Manasseh together as "the house of Joseph"(vv. 22-29). First, he narrated Ephraim's activity (vv. 22-26). The Ephraimites' treatment of the man of Bethel who gave them information viol...
  • The Book of Samuel covers the period of Israel's history bracketed by Samuel's conception and the end of David's reign. David turned the kingdom over to Solomon in 971 B.C.3David reigned for 40 and one-half years (2 Sam. 2:11...
  • I. The reign of Solomon chs. 1-11A. Solomon's succession to David's throne 1:1-2:121. David's declining health 1:1-42. Adonijah's attempt to seize the throne 1:5-533. David's charge to Solomon 2:1-94. David's death 2:10-12B. ...
  • God sent a young Judahite prophet to Bethel to announce a prophecy that God would judge Jeroboam for his apostasy. When he arrived, the king was exercising his priestly function at the Bethel altar (v. 1). The prophet predict...
  • (Continued from notes on 1 Kings)3. Ahaziah's evil reign in Israel -1 Kings 22:51-2 Kings 1:184. Jehoram's evil reign in Israel 2:1-8:155. Jehoram's evil reign in Judah 8:16-246. Ahaziah's evil reign in Judah 8:25-9:29C. The ...
  • Though Athaliah claimed Jehoash's coronation was treasonous, she was the one guilty of treason. Jehoash was a legitimate heir to the throne of Judah, but she was not since she was not a descendant of David but had married int...
  • Josiah began to seek Yahweh when he was 16 years old and began initiating religious reforms when he was 20 (2 Chron. 34:3-7). His reforms were more extensive than those of any of his predecessors. One of them was the repair o...
  • Ackroyd, Peter R. "An Interpretation of the Babylonian Exile: A Study of 2 Kings 20, Isaiah 38-39."Scottish Journal of Theology27:3:(August 1974):329-52.Albright, William F. The Archaeology of Palestine. 1949. Revised ed. Pel...
  • Manasseh was one of the few examples of an evil Judean king who turned out good. Nevertheless his wickedness made captivity inevitable for Judah (2 Kings 23:26; Jer. 15:4)."Manasseh's acts are . . . a calculated attempt to th...
  • Ackroyd, Peter R. I and II Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah. London: SCM Press, 1973.Aharoni, Yohanan, and Michael Avi-Yonah. The Macmillan Bible Atlas. Revised ed., New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1977.Albright, William F. The...
  • "The reading of Scripture (Neh 8) and the act of prayer (Neh 9) followed by community commitment (Neh 10) is a model for worshiping communities."62This was another instance in Israel's history of a covenant renewal accompanyi...
  • The texts of the individual psalms do not usually indicate who wrote them.1However some of the titles of the individual psalms do contain information about the writers.2This is the only really reliable information we have as ...
  • There are several thematic connections between this chapter and chapter 28.298The general structure of the chapter is chiastic."AContemporary events: Egypt no help (1-7)BComing human events: the refusal of the word, the way o...
  • 38:1 The phrase "In those days"identifies the reign of Hezekiah, the Judean king mentioned in the preceding chapters. Since the Lord added 15 years to Hezekiah's life (v. 5), and since Hezekiah died about 686 B.C.,373the time...
  • The biblical records of the times in which Jeremiah ministered are 2 Kings 21-25 and 2 Chronicles 33-36. His contemporary prophets were Zephaniah and Habakkuk before the Exile, and Ezekiel and Daniel after it began.King Manas...
  • Baal worship fascinated the Israelites, but it was futile.2:20 The Lord had broken the yoke of Egypt off His people at the Exodus and had set them free, but being ungrateful they refused to yield themselves to Him in covenant...
  • This pericope continues Yahweh's instructions to Jeremiah preparing him to deliver the Temple Sermon (cf. vv. 1-2). Jeremiah may have received this message from the Lord at the same time or at some other time.7:16 The Lord to...
  • 7:29 The people were to cut off their hair as a sign of grief."The command to cut off the hair' (lit., crown' . . .) is in the feminine in Hebrew, showing that the city (cf. 6:23--'O Daughter of Zion') is meant. The charge st...
  • "The sermon ends (if these verses, still in prose, should be taken with ch. 7) on a note which takes away the last shreds of comfort for those whose hopes or memories are bound up with Jerusalem."1838:1 When the invasion from...
  • The national defeat pictured in this lament was a serious one. It may have been the first Babylonian invasion of Judah in 597 B.C., which resulted in severe destruction and exile for some Judeans.14:17 Jeremiah was to tell th...
  • This pericope contains two instances in which Jeremiah faced crushing discouragement in his ministry (vv. 10-14, 15-21). He confessed his frustration to the Lord, and the Lord responded with encouragement.15:10 Jeremiah addre...
  • Having given a true prophecy about the future, Jeremiah proceeded to announce God's judgment on the false prophets who were misleading His people with false prophecies (cf. v. 1). This section consists of six different messag...
  • This section consists of four parts: a summary of Jeremiah's Temple Sermon (vv. 2-6), the prophet's arrest and trial (vv. 7-16), the elders' plea for his life (vv. 17-19, 24), and the incident involving Uriah and his executio...
  • 36:9 During the winter of 604-603 B.C., the people, not the king, declared a fast. The occasion for the fast may have been the arrival of Babylonian armies on the Philistine plain or the Babylonians' defeat of Ashkelon then.4...
  • 41:4-5 Two days after Gedaliah's murder, before the news of it had spread, 80 religious pilgrims came down from the old towns of Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria in northern Israel on their way to Jerusalem. Their dress and other...
  • Aharoni, Yohanan, and Michael Avi-Yonah. The Macmillan Bible Atlas. Revised ed. London: Collier Macmillan Publishers; and New York: Macmillan Publishers Co., 1977.Albright, William Foxwell. The Archaeology of Palestine. Revis...
  • ". . . the focus of chap. 6 is on the individual responsibility of the people and prepares the way for the subsequent spoken messages."1216:1-2 The Lord directed Ezekiel to pronounce an oracle of judgment against "the mountai...
  • 8:1 The following prophecy came to Ezekiel during September of 592 B.C. as he was sitting in his house with the elders of Israel.141This would have been during the time when he was lying on his right side for part of the day ...
  • 9:1 In his vision Ezekiel heard the Lord (cf. v. 4) cry out loudly for the executioners (guards), who would punish the people of Jerusalem, to draw near to Him with their weapons in hand. The Lord had predicted that the peopl...
  • 16:15 However, Jerusalem became self-centered and unfaithful to the Lord; she forgot Him when she became preoccupied with His blessings (cf. Deut. 6:10-12; 8). She went after every people that passed by rather than remaining ...
  • The following section is a general indictment of the people of Israel for their idolatry.4:11 The practice of idolatry (spiritual harlotry), with its emphasis on drinking wine, had turned the heart of the Israelites from Yahw...
  • 10:3 When the Lord brought destruction, the people would realize that their self-appointed king had failed them and that they did not respect the Lord. They would acknowledge that no human king could help them. Hoshea would b...
  • 1:2-3 Joel called on everyone, from the most respected ruling elders of the land (cf. 1 Sam. 30:26-31; 2 Sam. 19:11-15; 2 Kings 23:1; Ezra 10:8; Prov. 31:23; Jer. 26:17; Lam. 5:12, 14) to the ordinary inhabitants, to pay atte...
  • 5:10-11 In that future eschatological day the Lord also promised to remove the vain sources of security that had always tempted the Israelites represented by horses, chariots, cities, and fortifications (cf. Deut. 17:16).5:12...
  • 1:4 Yahweh announced that He would stretch out His hand in judgment against Judah and the people of Jerusalem. Stretching out the hand is a figure of speech that implies a special work of punishment (cf. Exod. 6:6; Deut. 4:34...
  • 14:9 In that day Yahweh would rule over the whole earth. He would be the only king; there would be no others. His name would be number one in the earth; there will be no other so-called gods (cf. Deut. 6:4-5). This verse refe...
  • Jesus' proceeded to elaborate on the importance of disciples dealing radically with sin in their lives. He had just warned about leading other disciples astray. Now He cautioned against being led astray oneself."Seducing simp...
  • 14:25 Luke described a setting different from the preceding meal. Jesus was on the road again heading toward Jerusalem. It was evidently the great size of the multitude that accompanied Him that led Him to say what He did.14:...
  • Paul wrote these positive directions to enable Timothy to overcome the influences of the ascetic apostates that threatened the church at Ephesus. He also wrote to remind him of the importance of his personal life and public m...
  • 19:17 John saw next an angel standing in the sun, a conspicuous position in which all the birds could see him. He cried loudly for all the birds flying in midheaven to assemble (cf. Ezek. 39:4, 17). Jesus referred to the same...
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