2 Kings 23:4

23:4 The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the high-ranking priests,¹ and the guards² to bring out of the Lord’s temple all the items that were used in the worship of³ Baal, Asherah, and all the stars of the sky.⁴ The king⁵ burned them outside of Jerusalem in the terraces⁶ of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel.⁷

2 Kings 23:6

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.⁸ He smashed it to dust and then threw the dust in the public graveyard.⁹

2 Kings 23:1

The King Institutes Religious Reform

23:1 The king summoned all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem.¹⁰

2 Kings 6:1

Elisha Makes an Ax Head Float

6:1 Some of the prophets¹¹ said to Elisha, “Look, the place where we meet with you¹² is too cramped¹³ for us.

2 Kings 7:12

7:12 The king got up in the night and said to his advisers,¹⁴ “I will tell you what the Syrians have done to us. They know we are starving, so they left the camp and hid in the field, thinking, ‘When they come out of the city, we will capture them alive and enter the city.’”

2 Kings 7:2

7:2 An officer who was the king’s right-hand man¹⁵ responded to the prophet,¹⁶ “Look, even if the Lord made it rain by opening holes in the sky, could this happen so soon?”¹⁷ Elisha¹⁸ said, “Look, you will see it happen with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of the food!”¹⁹

2 Kings 1:5

1:5 When the messengers returned to the king,²⁰ he asked them, “Why have you returned?”

2 Kings 1:15

1:15 The Lord’s angelic messenger said to Elijah, “Go down with him. Don’t be afraid of him.” So he got up and went down²¹ with him to the king.

Ezekiel 40:28

40:28 Then he brought me to the inner court by the south gate. He measured the south gate; it had the same dimensions as the others.

Ezekiel 40:32

40:32 Then he brought me to the inner court on the east side. He measured the gate; it had the same dimensions as the others.

Ezekiel 40:37

40:37 Its jambs²² faced the outer court, and it had decorative palm trees on its jambs, on either side, and its stairway had eight steps.

Ezekiel 40:47

40:47 He measured the court as a square 175 feet long and 175 feet wide;²³ the altar was in front of the temple.

Ezekiel 42:3

42:3 Opposite the 35 feet²⁴ that belonged to the inner court, and opposite the pavement which belonged to the outer court, gallery faced gallery in the three stories.

Ezekiel 43:5

43:5 Then a wind²⁵ lifted me up and brought me to the inner court; I watched²⁶ the glory of the Lord filling the temple.²⁷

Ezekiel 44:19

44:19 When they go out to the outer court to the people, they must remove the garments they were ministering in, and place them in the holy chambers; they must put on other garments so that they will not transmit holiness to the people with their garments.²⁸

¹tn Heb “the priests of the second [rank],” that is, those ranked just beneath Hilkiah.

²tn Or “doorkeepers.”

³tn Heb “for.”

⁴tn Heb “all the host of heaven” (also in v. 5).

⁵tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁶tn Or “fields.” For a defense of the translation “terraces,” see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 285.

⁷map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.

⁸tn Heb “and he burned it in the Kidron Valley.”

⁹tc Heb “on the grave of the sons of the people.” Some Hebrew, Greek, Syriac, Aramaic, and Latin witnesses read the plural “graves.”

¹⁰tn Heb “and the king sent and all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem gathered to him.”

¹¹tn Heb “the sons of the prophets.”

¹²tn Heb “sit before you.”

¹³tn Heb “narrow, tight.”

¹⁴tn Heb “servants” (also in v. 13).

¹⁵tn Heb “the officer on whose hand the king leans.”

¹⁶tn Heb “man of God.”

¹⁷tn Heb “the Lord was making holes in the sky, could this thing be?” Opening holes in the sky would allow the waters stored up there to pour to the earth and assure a good crop. But, the officer argues, even if this were to happen, it would take a long time to grow and harvest the crop.

¹⁸tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁹tn Heb “you will not eat from there.”

²⁰tn Heb “to him.”

²¹sn In this third panel the verb “come down” (יָרַד, yarad) occurs again, this time describing Elijah’s descent from the hill at the Lord’s command. The moral of the story seems clear: Those who act as if they have authority over God and his servants just may pay for their arrogance with their lives; those who, like the third commander, humble themselves and show the proper respect for God’s authority and for his servants will be spared and find God quite cooperative.

²²tc The LXX reads “porches.”

²³tn Heb “one hundred cubits long and one hundred cubits wide, a square” (i.e., 52.5 meters by 52.5 meters).

²⁴tn Heb “twenty cubits” (i.e., 10.5 meters).

²⁵tn See note on “wind” in 2:2.

²⁶tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

²⁷sn In 1 Kgs 8:10-11 we find a similar event with regard to Solomon’s temple. See also Exod 40:34-35. and Isa 6:4.

²⁸sn For a similar concept of the transmitting of holiness, see Exod 19:12-14; Lev 10:1-2; 2 Sam 6:7. Similar laws concerning the priest are found in Lev 10 and 21.