2 Kings 23:16

16 When Josiah turned and saw the tombs which [were] there on the hill, he sent and took the bones from the tombs and burned [them] on the altar. [Thus] he defiled them according to the word of Yahweh that the man of God had proclaimed who had proclaimed these things.

2 Kings 23:16 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 23:16

And as Josiah turned himself
From the high place, and the altar at Bethel; for he not only gave orders for the destroying of idolatrous places and idols, but he saw them executed himself:

he spied the sepulchres that were there in the mount;
the graves of idolatrous priests and worshippers, who chose to be buried near those places of idolatry; nor was it unusual for persons to be buried on hills and mountains, see ( Joshua 24:30 Joshua 24:33 ) and this was a custom in other nations formerly ^F20, particularly among the Indians ^F21 now, who in many things agree with the Jews:

and sent and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burnt them upon
the altar;
where they had sacrificed to idols:

and polluted it;
with their bones, which, according to the law, were defiling, and which was done in contempt of their idolatrous worship there:

according to the word of the Lord which the man of God proclaimed, who
proclaimed these words;
or things; foretold that such a king by name would arise, and burn men's bones upon the altar, and which had been foretold more than three hundred and fifty years before this time.

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FOOTNOTES:

F20 Vid. Servium in Virgil. Aeneid. 11. ver 849. "fuit ingens monte sub alto".
F21 Manasseh ben Israel Spes Israelis. sect 6. p. 29.

2 Kings 23:16 In-Context

14 He also broke into pieces the stone pillars and cut down the Asherah poles and covered their sites [with] human bones.

15 Moreover, the altar which [was] in Bethel, the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin, had built, even that altar and the high place, [Josiah] tore down. Then he burned down the high place and crushed [the] pole of Asherah worship to dust and burned it with fire.

16 When Josiah turned and saw the tombs which [were] there on the hill, he sent and took the bones from the tombs and burned [them] on the altar. [Thus] he defiled them according to the word of Yahweh that the man of God had proclaimed who had proclaimed these things.

17 Then he said, "What [is] this gravestone that I [am] seeing?" The men of the city said to him, "[This is the] tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which you have done against the altar of Bethel."

18 So Josiah said, "Let him rest and let no man move his bones." So they left his bones undisturbed with the bones of the prophet who had come from Samaria.