Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Kings 23

JOSIAH RENEWS THE COVENANT, ROOTS OUT IDOLATRY, AND HOLDS A SOLEMN PASSOVER. HIS END.

They gathered. —The right reading is probably that of the Syriac and Vulgate, there gathered. Chronicles, Septuagint, and Arabic have he gathered.

All the elders. —The representatives of the nation.

And the prophets—that is, the numerous members of the prophetic order, who at this time formed a distinct class, repeatedly mentioned in the writings of Jeremiah (for example, Jeremiah 2:8; Jeremiah 5:31; Jeremiah 6:13), as well as of older prophets. The Targum has the scribes, the γραμματεύς of the New Testament, a class which hardly existed so early. Chronicles and some manuscripts read the Levites. (See Note on 2 Chronicles 34:30.)

All the men of Judah ... inhabitants of Jerusalem ... the people—a natural hyperbole, for of course the Temple court would not contain the entire population.

And he read—perhaps the king himself, but not necessarily. (Compare, for example, 2 Kings 22:10; 2 Kings 22:16.) Qui facit per alium facit per se. The priests were charged to read the Law to the people (Deuteronomy 31:9 and following) at the end of every seven years.

Small and great—that is, high and low. (Compare Psalms 49:2.)

By a pillar. — On the stand or dais (2 Kings 11:14).

A covenant. — The covenant, which had so often been broken. Josiah pledged himself to walk after the Lord, and imposed a similar pledge on the people.

Stood to the covenant — i.e., entered it; took the same pledge as the king (Compare to 2 Kings 18:28).

The priests of the second order. —Thenius is probably right in reading the singular, the priest of the second rank, i.e., the high priest’s deputy, according to the Targum, unless the heads of the twenty-four classes are intended (“the chief priests” of the New Testament). (See also 2 Kings 25:18.)

The keepers of the door (threshold).—The three chief warders (2 Kings 25:18).

Out of the temple — i.e., out of the principal chamber or holy place.

For Baal ... grove. —For the Baal ... Asherah (as also in 2 Kings 23:6–7; 2 Kings 23:15).

Burned them. —According to the law of Deuteronomy 7:25; Deuteronomy 12:3. (Compare to 1 Chronicles 14:12.)

Outside Jerusalem. —As unclean.

In the fields of Kidron. —North-east of the city, where the ravine expands considerably. (also 1 Kings 15:13.)

Carried the ashes of them to Beth-el. —This is undoubtedly strange, and Chronicles says nothing about it. If the ashes of the vessels were sent to Beth-el, why not also those of the idols themselves, and the fragments of the altars (2 Kings 23:6–12)? The text appears to be corrupt.

He put down. —Syriac and Arabic, he slew.

The idolatrous priests. —This refers to the kěmârîm, or black-robed priests (Hosea 10:5, of the priests of the calf-worship at Bethel). The term only occurs elsewhere in Zephaniah 1:4. Here, as in the passage from Hosea, the word denotes the unlawful priests of Jehovah, as contrasted with those of Baal, mentioned next.

Whether the term really means black-robed, as Kimchi explains, is questionable. Priests used to wear white throughout the ancient world, except on certain special occasions. Gesenius derives it from a root meaning black, but explains it as one clad in black, that is, a mourner, an ascetic, and so a priest.

Perhaps the true derivation is from another root, meaning to weave: weaver of spells or charms, as magic was an invariable accompaniment of false worship (Compare 2 Kings 17:17; 2 Kings 21:6).

It is a regular word for priest in Syriac (chûmrâ; Psalms 110:4; and the Epistle to the Hebrews, throughout).

To burn incense. —So Syriac, Vulgate, and Arabic. The Hebrew has, and he burned incense. It should probably be plural, as in the Vatican Septuagint and Targum.

In the places round about. — 1 Kings 6:29. Omit in the places.

To Baal, to the sun. —This could mean To the Baal, namely, to the sun. But it is better to supply and with all the versions.

Bel and Samas were distinct deities in the Assyro-Babylonian system. When Reuss remarks that “the knowledge of the old Semitic worships, possessed by the Hebrew historians, appears to have been very superficial, for Baal and the sun are one and the same deity,” he lays himself open to the same charge.

The planets. —Or, the signs of the Zodiac. The Hebrew is mazzalôth, probably a variant form of mazzarôth (Job 38:32).

The word is used in the Targums, and by rabbinical writers, in the sense of a star as influencing human destiny, and so fate or fortune in the singular, and in the plural as the signs of the Zodiac (for example, Ecclesiastes 9:3; Esther 3:7).

It is, perhaps, derived from ’azar, “to gird,” and means “belt,” or “girdle;” or from ’azal, “to journey,” and so means “stages” of the sun’s course in the heavens (Compare Arabic, manzal).