2 Kings 23:14

14 and he all-brake [the] images, and cutted down (the) [maumet] woods (and cut down the sacred poles of Asherah), and filled the places of those with the bones of dead men

2 Kings 23:14 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 23:14

And he brake in pieces the images
Of Ashtoreth, Chemosh, and Milcom, in the above high places; which as these high places had been rebuilt by Manasseh or Amon, so new images of these deities were placed there:

and cut down the groves;
in which they were set:

and filled their places with the bones of men;
of idolatrous priests and worshippers, buried in parts adjacent; these he dug up and scattered in the high places and groves to defile them, bones of the dead being by law unclean, ( Numbers 19:15 ) .

2 Kings 23:14 In-Context

12 Also the king destroyed the altars, that were on the roofs of the solar of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made; and the king destroyed the altars, which Manasseh had made in the two great places of the temple of the Lord; and he ran from thence, and scattered the ashes of those altars into the strand of Kidron. (And the king destroyed the altars that were on the roof of the solarium of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made; and the king destroyed the altars which Manasseh had made in the two great courtyards of the Temple of the Lord; and he went from there, and scattered the ashes of those altars in the Kidron Valley.)

13 Also the king defouled the high things, that were in Jerusalem at the right half of the hill of offence, that is, the hill of Olivet, which Solomon, king of Israel, had builded to Ashtoreth, the idol of Sidonians, and to Chemosh, the offence of Moab, and to Malcham, the abomination of the sons of Ammon; (And the king defiled the hill shrines that were east of Jerusalem, on the right side of the hill of offence, that is, south of the Mount of Olives, which Solomon, the king of Israel, had built for Ashtoreth, the false god of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh, the offensive god of Moab, and for Milcom, the abominable god of the Ammonites;)

14 and he all-brake [the] images, and cutted down (the) [maumet] woods (and cut down the sacred poles of Asherah), and filled the places of those with the bones of dead men

15 Furthermore also he destroyed the altar that was in Bethel, and the high solemn thing, which Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, had made, that made Israel to do sin; and he destroyed that high altar, and burnt it, and all-brake it into powder, and cutted down also the [maumet] wood. (And furthermore he destroyed the altar that was in Bethel, and the hill shrine, which Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, had made, who had made Israel to do sin; and he destroyed that high altar, and burned it, and broke it all into powder, and also cut down the sacred pole of Asherah.)

16 And Josiah turned, and saw there sepulchres that were in the hill; and he sent, and took the bones from the sepulchres, and burnt those on the altar, and defouled it, after the word of the Lord, that the man of God spake, that before-said these words. (And Josiah turned, and saw the tombs, or the graves, that were there on the hill; and he sent for, and took all the bones from those tombs, or those graves, and burned them on the altar, and defiled it, after the word of the Lord, that the man of God spoke, who foretold these things.)