Albert Barnes Commentary 2 Kings 23:4-20
Albert Barnes Commentary
2 Kings 23:4-20
Albert Barnes Commentary
2 Kings 23:4-20
SCRIPTURE
"And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the threshold, to bring forth out of the temple of Jehovah all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the Asherah, and for all the host of heaven, and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Beth-el. And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven. And he brought out the Asherah from the house of Jehovah, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and beat it to dust, and cast the dust thereof upon the graves of the common people. And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were in the house of Jehovah, where the women wove hangings for the Asherah. And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beer-sheba; and he brake down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man`s left hand at the gate of the city. Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of Jehovah in Jerusalem, but they did eat unleavened bread among their brethren. And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech. And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entrance of the house of Jehovah, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the precincts; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. And the altars that were on the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of Jehovah, did the king break down, and beat [them] down from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron. And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile. And he brake in pieces the pillars, and cut down the Asherim, and filled their places with the bones of men. Moreover the altar that was at Beth-el, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, even that altar and the high place he brake down; and he burned the high place and beat it to dust, and burned the Asherah. And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchres that were there in the mount; and he sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burned them upon the altar, and defiled it, according to the word of Jehovah which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these things. Then he said, What monument is that which I see? And the men of the city told him, It is the sepulchre of the man of God, who came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar of Beth-el. And he said, Let him be; let no man move his bones. So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria. And all the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke [Jehovah] to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Beth-el. And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there, upon the altars, and burned men`s bones upon them; and he returned to Jerusalem." — 2 Kings 23:4-20 (ASV)
A parenthesis giving the earlier reforms of Josiah.
The priests of the second order - This is a new expression and probably refers to the ordinary priests, who are called “priests of the second order” here in contrast with the high priest, whose dignity was reviving (see note on 2 Kings 12:2).
The vessels - This would include the entire apparatus of worship—altars, images, vestments, utensils, and so on—for Baal and the other idols (see notes on 2 Kings 21:3–5).
The ashes of the idolatrous objects were first burned in the “fields of Kidron” (that is, in the part of the valley northeast of the city, which is much broader than the section between the Temple Hill and the Mount of Olives). These ashes were then taken to Bethel, which was considered an accursed place just beyond Judah's borders.
In contrast, the ashes of other objects burned later were not carried so far, as the effort was great and not considered absolutely necessary. Instead, they were thrown into the Kidron valley when there was enough water to carry them away (2 Kings 23:12), or they were scattered on graves, which were already unclean (2 Kings 23:6). (Compare to 1 Kings 15:13).
He put down ... - This means, “He caused the idolatrous priests to cease” (as noted in the margin); that is, he stopped them. The word translated “idolatrous priests” (see the margin) is rare, occurring only here and in the marginal references. Here and in Zephaniah, it is contrasted with כֹּהֵן kōhēn, referring to another class of high-place priests. The kōhēn were probably Levitical priests, while the כְּמָרִים kēmārîm were non-Levitical priests of the high places. The term kēmārîm appears to be foreign, perhaps derived from the Syriac cumro, which means a priest of any kind.
Whom the kings of Judah had ordained - The consecration of non-Levitical priests by the kings of Judah had not been mentioned previously, but it is entirely consistent with the other actions of Manasseh and Amon (compare to 1 Kings 12:31).
The planets - This refers to the “signs of the Zodiac,” as noted in the margin (compare to the margin of Job 38:32). The original word likely means “houses” or “stations,” which was the Babylonian term for the divisions of the Zodiac.
The ashes, being polluted and a source of pollution, were thrown on graves. This was done because graves were avoided as unclean places, ensuring no one would come into contact with the ashes.
By the house of the Lord - This was not an act of intentional desecration. Rather, these practices were part of the idolatrous ceremony, regarded as pleasing to the gods and even as positive acts of worship (compare to the marginal reference).
The “women” were likely priestesses devoted to the worship of Astarte, which was closely connected with that of the Asherah, or “grove.” One of their duties was to weave coverings (literally, “houses,” according to the margin) for the Asherah, which were apparently of various colors, as noted in the marginal reference.
Josiah removed the Levitical priests who had officiated at the various high places from the scenes of their idolatries and brought them to Jerusalem, where their conduct could be watched.
From Geba to Beer-sheba - This means from the extreme north to the extreme south of the kingdom of Judah. For Geba, see the note in the marginal reference. The high place of Beer-sheba had gained an evil reputation (Amos 5:5; Amos 8:14).
The high places of the gates ... - This should be rendered: “He broke down the high places of the gates, both the one at the entrance of the gate of Joshua, the governor of the city (see note on 1 Kings 22:26), and the one on a man’s left at the city gate.” According to this reading, there were only two “high places of the gates” (idolatrous shrines built at the city's gate-towers) in Jerusalem. The “gate of Joshua” is thought to have been a gate in the inner wall, and the “gate of the city” is believed to be the Valley Gate (the modern Jaffa Gate).
Nevertheless - This verse should be connected with the first clause of 2 Kings 23:8. These priests were treated as if disqualified from serving at the altar by a physical defect (Leviticus 21:21–23). They were not removed from the priesthood but remained in the priestly order and received support from the temple revenues.
This treatment contrasts with Josiah’s severity toward the priests of the high places in Samaria, who were sacrificed on their own altars (2 Kings 23:20). The difference was likely because the high-place worship in Judah had largely remained a worship of Yahweh, though with idolatrous rites, while in Samaria it had degenerated into the actual worship of other gods.
The word Topheth, or Topher, was a place in the Valley of Hinnom (see note in marginal reference). Its name is variously derived: either from toph, meaning “a drum” or “tambourine,” because the cries of sacrificed children were drowned out by such instruments; or from a root taph or toph, meaning “to burn.”
The later kings of Judah, Manasseh and Amon (and perhaps Ahaz, according to 2 Chronicles 28:3), had given this site to the priests of Molech for their worship. Ever since, the Molech service had maintained its ground and flourished there (see marginal references).
The custom of dedicating a chariot and horses to the sun is a Persian practice, with no traces of it in Assyria. It is very curious to find that it was known to the Jews as early as the reign of Manasseh. The idea of the sun as a charioteer driving his horses across the sky daily, so familiar to the Greeks and Romans, was likely imported from Asia and may have been the root of this custom.
The chariot or chariots of the sun seem to have been used mainly, if not exclusively, for sacred processions. They were white and were probably drawn by white horses. The kings of Judah who dedicated them were certainly Manasseh and Amon, and perhaps Ahaz or even earlier monarchs like Joash and Amaziah.
In the suburbs - The expression used here, פרברים parbārîym, is of unknown origin and appears nowhere else in Scripture. A similar word, פרבר parbār, appears in 1 Chronicles 26:18, which seems to refer to a place just outside the western wall of the temple—a kind of “purlieu” or “suburb.” The term פרברים parbārîym in this passage may refer to the same location or to another temple suburb.
The upper chamber of Ahaz - This is thought to be a chamber built on the flat roof of one of the gateways leading into the temple court. It was likely constructed so its roof could be used for worshipping the host of heaven, as rooftops were considered especially suitable for this purpose (compare to the marginal references).
Brake them down from thence - This is better rendered as in the margin: that is, he “hastened and cast the dust into the Kidron.”
For the location of these high places, see the note on 1 Kings 11:7. Since they were allowed to remain under kings like Asa, Jehoshaphat, and Hezekiah, they were likely among the old high places where Yahweh had been worshipped blamelessly, or at least without any awareness of guilt (see note on 1 Kings 3:2).
However, Manasseh or Amon had restored them to the state they were in during Solomon's reign, and for this reason, Josiah condemned them to a special defilement.
The mount of corruption - See the margin. It is suspected that the original name was Har ham-mishchah, “mount of anointing,” and that this was later changed, as an expression of contempt, to Har ham-mashchith, “mount of corruption.”
The Law declared that the “bones of men” were unclean, just as actual corpses were (Numbers 19:16). From this and other passages (2 Kings 23:20; 1 Kings 13:2), we can gather that even the Jews who rejected the Law believed as firmly in this defilement as those who adhered to it.
And burned the high place - This “high place” must be distinguished from the altar and the grove (אֲשֵׁרָה ’ăshērāh). It might have been a shrine or tabernacle, either standing alone or covering the “grove” (see notes on 2 Kings 23:7 and 1 Kings 14:23). Since it was “stamped small to powder,” it must have been made of either metal or stone.
Burning human bones was contrary to all ordinary Jewish sentiments regarding the sanctity of the tomb. It had even been denounced as a heinous sin when committed by a king of Moab (Amos 2:1). Josiah did it because he was justified by the divine command mentioned in the marginal reference.
What title is that? - This is better translated as, “What pillar is that?” The original word indicates a short stone pillar set up either as a waymarker (Jeremiah 31:21) or as a tomb monument (Genesis 35:20; Ezekiel 39:15).
The cities of Samaria - The reformation Josiah carried out in Samaria is narrated in Chronicles. It implies he held sovereignty as far as the northern limits of Galilee, which is explained by the political history of the East during his reign.
Between 632 and 626 B.C., the Scythians ravaged the northern countries of Armenia, Media, and Cappadocia. They crossed Mesopotamia into Syria and from there attempted to invade Egypt. Since they were not the prophesied enemy of Judah and did not bring that enemy into the land, they are not mentioned in the historical books of Scripture. We only catch glimpses of the terrible suffering of that time in the prophets (Zephaniah 2:4–6; Jeremiah 1:13–15; Jeremiah 6:2–5; Ezekiel 38; Ezekiel 39).
Shortly after the Scythian invasion passed and matters settled, astounding news must have reached Jerusalem: the Assyrian monarchy had fallen, Nineveh was destroyed, and Babylon would take its place in Syria and Palestine. This event is dated to around 625 B.C., which seems to be the exact time Josiah was carrying out his reformation in Samaria.
Josiah took advantage of the confusion in these provinces, caused by the Scythian invasion and Assyria's troubles, to expand his own sovereignty. All indications suggest that Josiah did, in fact, unite the entire old “land of Israel” under his rule, except for the region across the Jordan, and considered himself a subject of Nabopolassar of Babylon.
Here, as in 2 Kings 23:16, Josiah may have felt bound to act as he did because of the prophecy (see marginal reference “b”). If not for that prophecy, it is unlikely he would have slain the priests on their altars.