2 Kings 23:1-3

Josiah's Covenant

1 ¹Then the king sent, and they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem.

2 The king went up to the house of the LORD and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests and the prophets and all the people, both small and great; and ²he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant ³which was found in the house of the LORD.

3 ⁴The king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the LORD, ⁵to walk after the LORD, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people entered into the covenant.

2 Kings 23:1-3 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 Chronicles 34:29-32
• 2. Deuteronomy 31:10-13
• 3. 2 Kings 22:8
• 4. 2 Kings 11:14, 17
• 5. Deuteronomy 13:4

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "took a stand in"