2 Kings 23:21-37

21 and he commanded to all the people, and said, Make ye pask to the Lord your God, after that, that is written in the book of this bond of peace. (and he commanded to all the people, and said, Keep ye the Passover to the Lord your God, after what is written in this Book of the Covenant.
22 Certainly such a pask was not made, from the days of judges that deemed Israel, and of all the days of the kings of Israel, and of Judah, (Certainly such a Passover was not kept, from the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, or of Judah,)
23 as this pask (that) was made to the Lord in Jerusalem in the eighteenth year of king Josiah.
24 But also Josiah did away men having fiends speaking in their wombs, and false diviners in altars, and he did away the figures of idols, and all [the] uncleannesses, and [the] abominations, that were in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he should do the words of the law, that were written in the book, that Hilkiah, the priest, found in the temple of the Lord. (And Josiah also did away men having fiends speaking in their wombs, and false diviners at altars, and the figures of idols, and all the uncleannesses, and the abominations, that were in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, so that he would do all the words of the Law, that were written in the book that the High Priest Hilkiah had found in the Temple of the Lord.)
25 No king before him was like him, that turned again to the Lord in all his heart, and in all his soul, and in all his strength, after all the law of Moses; neither after him rose (up) any like him. (There was no king like him before him, who had turned again to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his strength, after all the Law of Moses; nor did there rise up any king like him after him.)
26 Nevertheless the Lord was not turned away from the ire of his great vengeance, by which his strong vengeance was wroth against Judah, for the stirrings to ire by which Manasseh had stirred him to ire.
27 Therefore the Lord said, I shall do away also Judah from my face, as I did away Israel; and I shall cast away this city Jerusalem, which I chose, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there. (And so the Lord said, I shall also do away Judah from before me, as I did away Israel; and I shall throw away this city of Jerusalem, which I chose, and the House of which I said, My name shall always be there.)
28 Forsooth the residue of the words of Josiah, and all things that he did, whether these be not written in the book of [the] words of [the] days of the kings of Judah?
29 In the days of Josiah, Pharaoh Necho, the king of Egypt, went up against the king of Assyrians, to the flood Euphrates; and Josiah, king of Judah, went into the meeting of Pharaoh, to forbid him to pass through Judah; and Josiah was slain in Megiddo, when he had seen Pharaoh. (In the days of Josiah, Pharaoh Necho, the king of Egypt, went up to the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria; and Josiah, the king of Judah, went out against Pharaoh, to forbid him to pass through Judah; and Josiah was killed at Megiddo, when he met Pharaoh in battle.)
30 And his servants bare him dead from Megiddo, and brought him into Jerusalem, and buried him in his sepulchre; and the people of the land took Jehoahaz , the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king for his father (and made him king in place of his father).
31 Jehoahaz was of three and twenty years, when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem; the name of his mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremy of Libnah.
32 And he did evil before the Lord, by all things which his fathers had done.
33 And Pharaoh Necho bound him in prison in Riblah, that is in the land of Hamath, that he should not reign in Jerusalem; and Pharaoh set a pain, either a fine, to the land of Judah, in an hundred talents of silver, and in one talent of gold (and Pharaoh put a fine on the land of Judah, of a hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold).
34 And Pharaoh Necho made king Eliakim, the son of Josiah, for Josiah, his father; and he turned the name of him to Jehoiakim; forsooth Pharaoh took Jehoahaz, and led him into Egypt, (and he died there). (And Pharaoh Necho made Eliakim, Josiah's son, to be king in place of his father; and he changed his name to Jehoiakim; but Pharaoh took away Jehoahaz, and led him into Egypt, and he died there.)
35 Soothly Jehoiakim gave silver and gold to Pharaoh, when he had commanded to the land by all years, that it should be brought, by the commandment of Pharaoh; and Jehoiakim raised of each man by his mights, or after his power, both silver and gold, of the people of the land, that he should give to Pharaoh Necho. (And Jehoiakim paid the silver and gold to Pharaoh, in all the years that he commanded over the land, that it should be brought in, by Pharaoh's commandment; and Jehoiakim raised both the silver, and the gold, from the people of the land, yea, out of each man's own wealth, so that he could pay it to Pharaoh Necho.)
36 Jehoiakim was of five and twenty years, when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; the name of his mother was Zebudah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah
37 And he did evil before the Lord, by all things which his fathers had done.

2 Kings 23:21-37 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.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.