2 Kings 23

2 Kings 23:1-3 . JOSIAH CAUSES THE LAW TO BE READ.

1-3. the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders--This pious and patriotic king, not content with the promise of his own security, felt, after Huldah's response, an increased desire to avert the threatened calamities from his kingdom and people. Knowing the richness of the divine clemency and grace to the penitent, he convened the elders of the people, and placing himself at their head, accompanied by the collective body of the inhabitants, went in solemn procession to the temple, where ordered the book of the law to be read to the assembled audience, and covenanted, with the unanimous concurrence of his subjects, to adhere steadfastly to all the commandments of the Lord. It was an occasion of solemn interest, closely connected with a great national crisis, and the beautiful example of piety in the highest quarter would exert a salutary influence over all classes of the people in animating their devotions and encouraging their return to the faith of their fathers.

2. he read in their ears--that is, "caused to be read."

3. all the people stood to the covenant--that is, they agreed to the proposals made; they assented to what was required of them.

2 Kings 23:4-28 . HE DESTROYS IDOLATRY.

4. the king commanded Hilkiah, &c.--that is, the high priest and other priests, for there was not a variety of official gradations in the temple.
all the vessels, &c.--the whole apparatus of idol-worship.
burned them without Jerusalem--The law required them to be consigned to the flames ( Deuteronomy 7:25 ).
in the fields of Kidron--most probably that part of the valley of Kidron, where lies Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives. It is a level, spacious basin, abounding at present with plantations [ROBINSON]. The brook winds along the east and south of the city, the channel of which is throughout a large portion of the year almost or wholly dry, except after heavy rains, when it suddenly swells and overflows. There were emptied all the impurities of the temple ( 2 Chronicles 29:15 2 Chronicles 29:16 ) and the city. His reforming predecessors had ordered the mutilated relics of idolatry to be thrown into that receptacle of filth ( 1 Kings 15:13 , 2 Chronicles 15:16 , 30:14 ); but Josiah, while he imitated their piety, far outstripped them in zeal; for he caused the ashes of the burnt wood and the fragments of the broken metal to be collected and conveyed to Beth-el, in order thenceforth to associate ideas of horror and aversion with that place, as odious for the worst pollutions.

5. put down the idolatrous priests--Hebrew, chemarim, "scorched," that is, Guebres, or fire-worshippers, distinguished by a girdle ( Ezekiel 23:14-17 ) or belt of wool and camel's hair, twisted round the body twice and tied with four knots, which had a symbolic meaning, and made it a supposed defense against evil.
them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, &c.--or Baal-shemesh, for Baal was sometimes considered the sun. This form of false worship was not by images, but pure star-worship, borrowed from the old Assyrians.
and--rather, "even to all the host of heaven."

6. brought out the grove--that is, Asherah, the mystic tree, placed by Manasseh in the temple [ 2 Kings 21:5 , 2 Chronicles 33:5 ], removed by him after his conversion [ 2 Chronicles 33:15 ], but replaced in the sanctuary by his wicked son Amon [ 2 Kings 21:20 2 Kings 21:21 ]. Josiah had it taken to Kidron, burnt the wood, ground the metal about it to powder, and strewed the ashes "on the graves of the children of the people." The poor were buried in a common on part of the valley of Kidron. But reference is here made to the graves "of those that had sacrificed" ( 2 Chronicles 34:4 ).

7. brake down the houses of the sodomites--not solid houses, but tents, called elsewhere [ 2 Kings 17:30 ] Succoth-benoth, "the booths of the young women," who were devoted to the service of Asherah, for which they made embroidered hangings, and in which they gave themselves to unbridled revelry and lust. Or the hangings might be for Asherah itself, as it is a popular superstition in the East to hang pieces of cloth on trees.