2 Kings 23:8

8 Then he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where * the priests had burned incense, from 1Geba to Beersheba; and he broke down the high places of the gates which were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on one's left at the city gate.

2 Kings 23:8 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 23:8

And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah
Who were of the sons of Aaron, and had served in the high places there:

and defiled the high places where the priests had burnt incense;
by casting dead carcasses, or the bones of dead men, or dung, or anything that was unclean, into them, by way of contempt:

from Geba to Beersheba;
which were the northern and southern boundaries of the land of Judah:

and brake down the high places of the gates:
of the cities where some think tutelar gods were placed to be worshipped by persons as they went in or out of them: and particularly that

which 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;
of the city of Jerusalem, where this Joshua was chief magistrate under the king; at whose door stood an high place, which, Kimchi thinks, might he greater than the rest, and therefore mentioned alone, yet was not spared on account of its greatness, or of the person to whom it belonged.

2 Kings 23:8 In-Context

6 He brought out the Asherah from the house of the LORD outside Jerusalem to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and ground it to dust, and threw its dust on the graves of the common people.
7 He also broke down the houses of the male cult prostitutes which were in the house of the LORD , where the women were weaving hangings for the Asherah.
8 Then he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba; and he broke down the high places of the gates which were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on one's left at the city gate.
9 Nevertheless the priests of the high places did not go up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers.
10 He also defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire for Molech.

Cross References 1

  • 1. Joshua 21:17; 1 Kings 15:22
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