2 Kings 23:3

3 Then the king stood by the pillar, and he {made} a covenant before Yahweh, to go after Yahweh and to keep his commands and his warnings and his statutes, with all of [his] heart and with his all of his soul, to keep the words of this covenant written on this scroll. Then all of the people {joined} in the covenant.

2 Kings 23:3 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 23:3

And the king stood by a pillar
As the manner of kings was, ( 2 Kings 11:14 ) and is thought to be the brasen scaffold erected by Solomon, on which he stood at the dedication of the temple, and now Josiah at the reading of the law, ( 2 Chronicles 6:13 ) , it is said to be his place, ( 2 Chronicles 34:31 ) , (See Gill on 2 Kings 11:14)

and made a covenant before the Lord:
agreed and promised in the presence of God, both he and his people:

to walk after the Lord:
the worship of the Lord, as the Targum; closely to attend to that:

and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes:
all the laws of God, moral, civil, and ceremonial:

with all their heart, and all their soul:
cordially and sincerely:

to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book:
lately found, and now read unto them:

and all the people stood to the covenant:
agreed to it, and promised to keep it; so the Targum,

``all the people took upon them the covenant,''

engaged to observe it.

2 Kings 23:3 In-Context

1 So the king sent [word], and all of the elders of Judah and Jerusalem gathered to him.

2 Then the king went up [to] the temple of Yahweh, and all of the men of Judah and all of the inhabitants of Jerusalem [were] with him, [including] the priests, the prophets, and all of the people from smallest to greatest; and in their {hearing} he read all of the words of the scroll of the covenant that had been found in the temple of Yahweh.

3 Then the king stood by the pillar, and he {made} a covenant before Yahweh, to go after Yahweh and to keep his commands and his warnings and his statutes, with all of [his] heart and with his all of his soul, to keep the words of this covenant written on this scroll. Then all of the people {joined} in the covenant.

4 Then the {king} commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the second priests, and the keepers of the threshold, to bring out of the temple of Yahweh all of the objects made for Baal and for the Asherah and for all the host of heaven, and he burned them outside of Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and then he carried their ashes to Bethel

5 He removed the priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained [to] burn incense on the high places at the cities of Judah and around Jerusalem and who offered incense to, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "cut"
• [b]. Literally "stood"