2 Kings 23:20-30

20 And ¹he sacrificed all the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars, ²and burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

Josiah Restores the Passover

21 And the king commanded all the people, ³"Keep the Passover to the LORD your God, ⁴as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.

22 ⁵For no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah.

23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was kept to the LORD in Jerusalem.

24 Moreover, Josiah put away ⁶the mediums and the necromancers and ⁷the household gods and ⁸the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might establish ⁹the words of the law that were written in the book ¹⁰that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD.

25 ¹¹Before him there was no king like him, who 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, nor did any like him arise after him.

26 Still the LORD did not turn from the burning of his great wrath, by which his anger was kindled against Judah, ¹²because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him.

27 And the LORD said, "I will remove Judah also out of my sight, ¹³as I have removed Israel, and I will cast off this city that I have chosen, Jerusalem, ¹⁴and the house of which I said, My name shall be there."

Josiah's Death in Battle

28 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?

29 ¹⁵In his days ¹⁶Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went up to the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates. King Josiah went to meet him, and Pharaoh Neco killed him at ¹⁷Megiddo, as soon as he saw him.

30 ¹⁸And his servants carried him dead in a chariot from ¹⁹Megiddo and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. ²⁰And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father's place.

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2 Kings 23:20-30 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 23

This chapter treats of Josiah's reading the book of the law, and of him and the people renewing the covenant with God, 2Ki 23:1-3, and of his removing idols and idolatry in every shape, and witchcraft, out of the land, which he did in the sincerity of his heart, 2Ki 23:4-25, yet the wrath of God was still determined upon the land, 2Ki 23:26-28 and Josiah was taken away by an untimely death, 2Ki 23:29,30 and was succeeded by two sons of his, one after another, whose reigns were wicked, 2Ki 23:31-37.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 20

1. [2 Kings 11:18; Exodus 22:20; 1 Kings 18:40]
2. 2 Chronicles 34:5
3. See 2 Chronicles 35:1-17
4. See Exodus 12:3-11; Leviticus 23:5, 8; Numbers 9:2-4; Deuteronomy 16:2-8
5. 2 Chronicles 35:18, 19
6. 2 Kings 21:6; See Leviticus 19:31
7. See Genesis 31:19
8. 2 Kings 21:11, 21
9. Leviticus 19:31; Leviticus 20:27; Deuteronomy 18:11
10. 2 Kings 22:8
11. [2 Kings 18:5]
12. 2 Kings 21:11; 2 Kings 24:3, 4; Jeremiah 15:4
13. 2 Kings 17:18, 20; 2 Kings 18:11; 2 Kings 21:13
14. See 2 Kings 21:4
15. For ver. 29, 30, see 2 Chronicles 35:20-24
16. Jeremiah 46:2
17. [Judges 5:19; Zechariah 12:11]
18. [2 Kings 9:28]
19. [See ver. 29 above]
20. For ver. 30-34, see 2 Chronicles 36:1-4

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.