2 Kings 23:19

19 Then Josiah demolished all the buildings at the pagan shrines in the towns of Samaria, just as he had done at Bethel. They had been built by the various kings of Israel and had made the LORD very angry.

2 Kings 23:19 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 23:19

And all the houses also of the high places
The temples of the idols there, and the houses for the priests to dwell in:

that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made
to provoke the Lord to anger, Josiah took away;
particularly in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, unto Naphtali, ( 2 Chronicles 34:6 ) the Israelites that remained there acknowledging Josiah as their king; and perhaps, after the defeat of Sennacherib, many of the cities of Israel might put themselves under the protection of Hezekiah, and especially upon the destruction of the Assyrian empire; and Manasseh, with his liberty, might have his kingdom enlarged by the king of Babylon; and which being continued and increased in the times of Josiah, might be the reason of his opposing the king of Egypt in favour of the king of Babylon:

and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel;
defiled them, and broke down the altars in them.

2 Kings 23:19 In-Context

17 “What is that monument over there?” Josiah asked. And the people of the town told him, “It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and predicted the very things that you have just done to the altar at Bethel!”

18 Josiah replied, “Leave it alone. Don’t disturb his bones.” So they did not burn his bones or those of the old prophet from Samaria.

19 Then Josiah demolished all the buildings at the pagan shrines in the towns of Samaria, just as he had done at Bethel. They had been built by the various kings of Israel and had made the LORD very angry.

20 He executed the priests of the pagan shrines on their own altars, and he burned human bones on the altars to desecrate them. Finally, he returned to Jerusalem.

21 King Josiah then issued this order to all the people: “You must celebrate the Passover to the LORD your God, as required in this Book of the Covenant.”

Footnotes

• [a]. As in Greek and Syriac versions and Latin Vulgate; Hebrew lacks the .