2 Kings 23:4-5

Reforms under Josiah

4 Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and ¹the priests of the second order and the doorkeepers, ²to bring out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels that were made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven; and ³he burned them outside * Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel

5 He did away with the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah and in the surrounding area of Jerusalem, also those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and to the moon and to the constellations and to all the ⁴host of heaven.

2 Kings 23:4-5 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 Kings 25:18; Jeremiah 52:24
• 2. 2 Kings 21:3, 7; 2 Chronicles 33:3
• 3. 2 Kings 23:15
• 4. 2 Kings 21:3

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "keepers of the threshold"
• [b]. I.e. a wooden symbol of a female deity, and so throughout the ch