And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem.
And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem.
And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD.
the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4 .
prophets. Some codices read "Levites", as in 2 Chronicles 34:30 .
read. Either himself; or, by Hebrew idiom, "caused to be read".
in their ears. Compare Nehemiah 8:1-4 , &c. The king did not keep it to himself. God's word is for all.
And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.
by a pillar: or, on the pillar, or, platform. Compare 2 Kings 11:14 .
soul. Hebrew. nephesh. App-13 .
written. See App-47 .
stood. But not for long. See Jeremiah 11:2-20 .
And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel.
priests of the second order (or degree), i.e. ordinary priests.
the grove = the 'Asherah. See App-42 .
host of heaven. Compare 2 Kings 21:3 .
burned them. As prescribed in Deuteronomy 7:25 .
unto Beth-el. To defile the altar there, according to the prophecy in 1 Kings 13:2 .
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.
idolatrous priests = black-robed; not kohen, as appointed by God, but kemarlm, as appointed by man. Compare Hosea 10:5 , Zephaniah 1:4 .
Planets = stations: i.e. the twelve signs of the Zodiac. Hebrew. mazzaloth. Spelled Mazzaroth in Job 38:32 = stations. The Babylonian name for the divisions of the zodiac. Called in the Assyrian inscriptions "Mauzalti". (See Western Asiatic Inscriptions.)
And he brought out the grove from the house of the LORD, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people.
graves. Hebrew. keber. See note on 2 Kings 21:26 .
of the children of the people = of the common people in Jeremiah 26:23 . In 2 Chronicles 35:5 it = the laity as distinguished from Levites.
children = sons.
And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the grove.
sodomites = male prostitutes. Suppression directed in Deuteronomy 23:17 , Deuteronomy 23:18 . See note on 1 Kings 14:23 , 1 Kings 14:24 .
hangings. Hebrew houses. Probably veils to cover the 'Asherah, as it is covered in Romish processions to-day.
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 brake down the high places of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city.
the high places. Seemingly (from 2 Kings 23:9 ) some were used for the worship of Jehovah. See notes on 2 Kings 18:20 ; 2Ki 19:10 , 2 Kings 19:14 .
Geba. NOW Jeba (Joshua 18:24 ).
Beer-sheba. Southern boundary (Genesis 21:31 .Judges 20:1; Judges 20:1 ). Compare Amos 5:5 ; Amos 8:14 .
Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, but they did eat of the unleavened bread among their brethren.
priests of the high places. Not idolatrous priests. See note on 2 Kings 23:8 .
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.
Topheth = the Topheth. First occurrence. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Adjunct), put for anything abhorrent.
valley, &c. The junction of the three valleys uniting south of Jerusalem. The continual fires burning there gave the Greek name Gehenna (from the Hebrew Ge Hinnom = valley of Hinnom).
Molech. Compare Jeremiah 7:31 , Jeremiah 7:32 ; Jeremiah 19:2-6 . Prohibited Deuteronomy 18:10 . Compare 1 Kings 11:7 .
And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entering in of the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the suburbs, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire.
kings of Judah. Presumably Manasseh and Amon. See 2 Kings 21:3-5 . of = from.
by = to.
chamberlain = eunuch, or officer.
suburbs , or outskirts.
And the altars that were on the top 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 the LORD, did the king beat down, and brake them down from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron.
top = roof, "[the roof] of", &c. brake them down. The margin of Authorized Version seems preferable here: "hurried away [with them] from thence".
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 Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile.
before Jerusalem: i.e. the east side. See Zec 16:4 .
which, &c . Figure of speech Polyonyrnia.
mount of corruption: i.e. the Mount of Olives. Thus called on account of the idolatries connected with it.
Chemosh. Compare 1 Kings 11:5 , 1 Kings 11:7 .
And he brake in pieces the images, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men.
images = pillars, or statues.
men. Hebrew. 'adam. Used collectively. App-14 .
Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he brake down, and burned the high place, and stamped it small to powder, and burned the grove.
the altar. Compare 1 Kings 12:32 , 1 Kings 12:33 .
made Israel to sin. See note on 1 Kings 14:16 .
And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchres that were there in the mount, and sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burned them upon the altar, and polluted it, according to the word of the LORD which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words.
sepulchres. Hebrew, plural of keber. See note on 2 Kings 21:26 .
the word. See 1 Kings 13:2 .
the man of God. See note on Deuteronomy 33:1 . App-49 .
God. Hebrew. Elohim. App-4 .
proclaimed. Supply Figure of speech Ellipsis thus: "proclaimed [when Jeroboam stood by the altar at the feast], who proclaimed these words" 369 years before. See 1 Kings 13:1 , 1 Kings 13:2 .
Then he said, What title is that that I see? And the men of the city told him, It is the sepulchre of the man of God, which came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar of Bethel.
title = monument.
And he said, Let him alone; 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 the LORD to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel.
the LORD. Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate read "Jehovah" in the text.
And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there upon the altars, and burned men's bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem.
slew = sacrificed. See App-43 .
And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the passover unto the LORD your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant.
Keep the passover. See note on Exodus 12:28 .
the book of this covenant = this covenant-book. Authorized Version 1611, reads "this book of the covenant".
Surely there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah;
not holden such. Compare Hezekiah's passover, of which the same is said (2 Chronicles 30:26 ). Both statements true. Hezekiah's greater than any before it. Josiah's greater than Hezekiah's. See the details (2 Chronicles 35:1-19 ). There were larger numbers, and the law was more exactly followed. Hezekiah's passover kept just before the dispersion of Israel. Josiah's passover kept just before the captivity of Judah.
judges that judged. Figure of speech Polyptoton.
But in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, wherein this passover was holden to the LORD in Jerusalem.
Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD.
familiar spirits. See note on Leviticus 19:31 .
images = teraphim = household gods.
idols = manufactured gods.
put = clear.
Hilkiah the priest found. See 2 Kings 22:8 , &c.
And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.
like unto. Note the Figure of speech Epanadiplosis , by which (for emphasis) the statement begins and ends with the same words.
soul. Hebrew. nephesh. App-13 .
Notwithstanding the LORD turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal.
And the LORD said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.
as = according as.
I have chosen = I once, or erewhile, chose.
Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
are they not . . . ? Figure of speech Erotesis. App-6 .
In his days Pharaoh-nechoh king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates: and king Josiah went against him; and he slew him at Megiddo, when he had seen him.
Pharaoh-nechoh: i.e. Nechoh II, the sixth king of the twentysixth dynasty. His father was a tributary to Assyria, but had secured independence for Egypt.
the king of Assyria: i.e. the king of Babylon, who had just conquered Nineveh, the rival capital.
went against him. His motive not known.
he = the king of Egypt.
him = Josiah.
Megiddo. Southern margin of the plain of Esdraelon, celebrated for Syria's defeat by Barak (Judges 5:19 ).
seen. Figure of speech Tapeinosis , to emphasize the fact that he did much more than "see" him. Compare 2 Kings 14:8 and 2 Chronicles 35:21 , 2 Chronicles 35:22 .
And his servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulchre. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father's stead.
buried him. For the sorrow attending this, see 2 Chronicles 35:25 .
Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
Jehoahaz. Also called Johanan (Jeremiah 22:11 . 1 Chronicles 3:15 ). He was the younger brother of Jehoiakim (2 Kings 23:36 ).
And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.
evil. Hebrew. raa'. App-44 .
And Pharaoh-nechoh put him in bands at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and put the land to a tribute of an hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold.
at Biblah. After his defeat by Nebuchadrezzar at Carohemish. Eiblah was a centre from whence roads branched to the Euphrates and Nineveh, or by Palmyra to Babylon. The southern roads led to Palestine, Lebanon, and Egypt. Eiblah still bears this name, and is about twenty-five miles south-south-west of Ernesa.
that he might not reign. Hebrew text reads "when he reigned". Authorized Version follows some codices, with Aramaean, Septuagint, and Vulgate.
And Pharaoh-nechoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the room of Josiah his father, and turned his name to Jehoiakim, and took Jehoahaz away: and he came to Egypt, and died there.
Eliakim. Name changed, to assert Pharaoh-nechoh's authority.
in the room. Refusing to recognize the People's appointment of 2 Kings 23:30 .
died there. As Jeremiah (2 Kings 22:11 , 2 Kings 22:12 ) foretold.
And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh; but he taxed the land to give the money according to the commandment of Pharaoh: he exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, of every one according to his taxation, to give it unto Pharaoh-nechoh.
taxed = assessed.
Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Zebudah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.
And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.
did that which was evil. See 2 Chronicles 36:5-8 . Jeremiah 22:17 ; Jeremiah 24:8 ; Jeremiah 26:22-23 . N.B. Jeremiah chapters 13-20, and probably Jeremiah chapters 22 ; 26 ; 35 ; 36 ; belong to this period.