2 Kings 23:21-27

Passover Reinstituted

21 Then the king commanded all the people saying, "¹Celebrate the Passover to the LORD your God ²as it is written in this book of the covenant.

22 ³Surely such a Passover had not been celebrated from the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and of the kings of Judah.

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

24 Moreover, Josiah removed ⁴the mediums and the spiritists and the ⁵teraphim and ⁶the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, ⁷that he might confirm the words of the law which were written ⁸in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD.

25 Before him there was no king ⁹like 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 However, the LORD did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath with which His anger burned against Judah, ¹⁰because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him.

27 The LORD said, "I will remove Judah also from My sight, ¹¹as I have removed Israel. And ¹²I will cast off Jerusalem, this city which I have chosen, and the temple of which I said, 'My name shall be there.' "

2 Kings 23:21-27 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.

Cross References

• 1. 2 Chronicles 35:1-17
• 2. Numbers 9:2-4; Deuteronomy 16:2-8
• 3. 2 Chronicles 35:18, 19
• 4. Leviticus 19:31; 2 Kings 21:6
• 5. Gen 31:19 mg
• 6. 2 Kings 21:11, 21
• 7. Deuteronomy 18:10-22
• 8. 2 Kings 22:8
• 9. 2 Kings 18:5
• 10. 2 Kings 21:11-13; Jeremiah 15:4
• 11. 2 Kings 18:11
• 12. 2 Kings 21:13, 14

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "consumed"
• [b]. Or "perform"
• [c]. Lit "house"