2 Kings 23:2

2 And the king went up to the house of the Lord, with all the men of Judah and all the people of Jerusalem, and the priests and the prophets and all the people, small and great; and they were present at his reading of the book of the law which had come to light in the house of the Lord.

2 Kings 23:2 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 23:2

And the king went up into the house of the Lord
To the temple, from his palace:

and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him:
they met him there:

and the priests, and the prophets;
the prophets Jeremiah, Zephaniah, and Uriah, who, though they might not be at Jerusalem when the book of the law was found, yet, upon this message of the king's, might come up thither from the countries where they were; the Targum interprets the word "scribes": and some take them to be the sons of the prophets, their disciples; in ( 2 Chronicles 34:30 ) they are called Levites:

and all the people, both small and great;
a very numerous assembly:

and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant
which was found in the house of the Lord:
that is, he caused it to be read by others, and perhaps by more than one, the congregation being so large.

2 Kings 23:2 In-Context

1 Then the king sent and got together all the responsible men of Judah and of Jerusalem.

2 And the king went up to the house of the Lord, with all the men of Judah and all the people of Jerusalem, and the priests and the prophets and all the people, small and great; and they were present at his reading of the book of the law which had come to light in the house of the Lord.

3 And the king took his place by the pillar, and made an agreement before the Lord, to go in the way of the Lord, and keep his orders and his decisions and his rules with all his heart and all his soul, and to keep the words of the agreement recorded in the book; and all the people gave their word to keep the agreement.

4 Then the king gave orders to Hilkiah, the chief priest, and to the priests of the second order, and to the keepers of the door, to take out of the house of the Lord all the vessels made for Baal and for the Asherah and for all the stars of heaven; and he had them burned outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and took the dust of them to Beth-el

5 And he put an end to the false priests, who had been put in their positions by the kings of Judah to see to the burning of offerings in the high places in the towns of Judah and the outskirts of Jerusalem, and all those who made offerings to Baal and to the sun and the moon and the twelve signs and all the stars of heaven.