2 Kings 23:3

3 So the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the LORD to follow the LORD and to keep His commandments, decrees, and statutes with all his heart and all his soul, and to carry out the words of the covenant that were written in this book. And all the people entered into the covenant.

2 Kings 23:3 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 23:3

And the king stood by a pillar
As the manner of kings was, ( 2 Kings 11:14 ) and is thought to be the brasen scaffold erected by Solomon, on which he stood at the dedication of the temple, and now Josiah at the reading of the law, ( 2 Chronicles 6:13 ) , it is said to be his place, ( 2 Chronicles 34:31 ) , (See Gill on 2 Kings 11:14)

and made a covenant before the Lord:
agreed and promised in the presence of God, both he and his people:

to walk after the Lord:
the worship of the Lord, as the Targum; closely to attend to that:

and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes:
all the laws of God, moral, civil, and ceremonial:

with all their heart, and all their soul:
cordially and sincerely:

to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book:
lately found, and now read unto them:

and all the people stood to the covenant:
agreed to it, and promised to keep it; so the Targum,

``all the people took upon them the covenant,''

engaged to observe it.

2 Kings 23:3 In-Context

1 Then the king summoned all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.

2 And he went up to the house of the LORD with all the people of Judah and Jerusalem, as well as the priests and the prophets—all the people small and great—and in their hearing he read all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the LORD.

3 So the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the LORD to follow the LORD and to keep His commandments, decrees, and statutes with all his heart and all his soul, and to carry out the words of the covenant that were written in this book. And all the people entered into the covenant.

4 Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the priests second in rank, and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the LORD all the articles made for Baal, Asherah, and all the host of heaven. And he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel.

5 Josiah also did away with the idolatrous priests ordained by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the cities of Judah and in the places all around Jerusalem—those who had burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven.