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. ¹  He smashed it to dust and then threw the dust in the public graveyard. ² 

2 Kings 13:7

13:7 Jehoahaz had no army left ³  except for fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and 10,000 foot soldiers. The king of Syria had destroyed his troops ⁴  and trampled on them like dust. ⁵ 

2 Kings 23:12

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 ⁶  and threw the dust in the Kidron Valley.

2 Kings 23:15

23:15 He also tore down the altar in Bethel ⁷  at the high place made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who encouraged Israel to sin. ⁸  He burned all the combustible items at that high place and crushed them to dust; including the Asherah pole. ⁹ 

2 Kings 23:4

23:4 The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the high-ranking priests, ¹⁰  and the guards ¹¹  to bring out of the Lord’s temple all the items that were used in the worship of ¹²  Baal, Asherah, and all the stars of the sky. ¹³  The king ¹⁴  burned them outside of Jerusalem in the terraces ¹⁵  of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. ¹⁶ 

[23:6]  ¹ tn Heb “and he burned it in the Kidron Valley.”

[23:6]  ² tc Heb “on the grave of the sons of the people.” Some Hebrew, Greek, Syriac, Aramaic, and Latin witnesses read the plural “graves.”

[13:7]  ³ tn Heb “Indeed he did not leave to Jehoahaz people.” The identity of the subject is uncertain, but the king of Syria, mentioned later in the verse, is a likely candidate.

[13:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “them,” i.e., the remainder of this troops.

[13:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “and made them like dust for trampling.”

[23:12]  ⁵ tc The MT reads, “he ran from there,” which makes little if any sense in this context. Some prefer to emend the verbal form (Qal of רוּץ [ruts], “run”) to a Hiphil of רוּץ with third plural suffix and translate, “he quickly removed them” (see BDB 930 s.v. רוּץ, and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings [AB], 289). The suffix could have been lost in MT by haplography (note the mem [מ] that immediately follows the verb on the form מִשֳׁם, misham, “from there”). Another option, the one reflected in the translation, is to emend the verb to a Piel of רָצַץ (ratsats), “crush,” with third plural suffix.

[23:15]  ⁷ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[23:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “And also the altar that is in Bethel, the high place that Jeroboam son of Nebat who encouraged Israel to sin, also that altar and the high place he tore down.” The more repetitive Hebrew text is emphatic.

[23:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “he burned the high place, crushing to dust, and he burned the Asherah pole.” High places per se are never referred to as being burned elsewhere. בָּמָה (bamah) here stands by metonymy for the combustible items located on the high place. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 289.

[23:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “the priests of the second [rank],” that is, those ranked just beneath Hilkiah.

[23:4]  ¹⁰ tn Or “doorkeepers.”

[23:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “for.”

[23:4]  ¹² tn Heb “all the host of heaven” (also in v. 5).

[23:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:4]  ¹⁴ tn Or “fields.” For a defense of the translation “terraces,” see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 285.

[23:4]  ¹⁵ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.