2 Kings 23:20

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 2 Kings 23:4-24

We have here an account of such a reformation as we have not met with in all the history of the kings of Judah, such thorough riddance made of all the abominable things and such foundations laid of a glorious good work; and here I cannot but wonder at two things:?1. That so many wicked things should have got in, and kept standing so long, as we find here removed. 2. That notwithstanding the removal of these wicked things, and the hopeful prospects here given of a happy settlement, yet within a... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Kings 23:20

And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there ,.... The idolatrous priests who sacrificed to Baal, and other Heathen deities; for as for others that burnt incense in high places, yet to the true God, those he spared, though they were not suffered to officiate at the altar of God: the others he slew upon the altars ; where they sacrificed: and burnt men's bones upon them : the bones of the priests, and worshippers of idols, as he had done at Bethel: and returned to... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 2 Kings 23:20

Slew all the priests - The lives of these, as corrupters of the people, were forfeited to the law. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Kings 23:1-25

Good aims and bad methods. "And the king sent," etc. Did the world ever contain a people more morally corrupt than that of the Jews? When we mark them journeying in the wilderness forty years, a more murmuring, disorderly, rebellious set of men where else could we discover? When settled in Palestine, a "land flowing with milk and honey" we find them committing every crime of which humanity is capable—adulteries, suicides, murders, ruthless wars, gross idolatries, their priests impostors,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Kings 23:1-37

JOSIAH 'S RENEWAL OF THE COVENANT . HIS REFORMS AND DEATH . REIGN OF JEHOAHAZ . ACCESSION OF JEHOIAKIM . read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Kings 23:4-27

Josiah ' s reformation of religion . The reformation of religion by Josiah next engages the writer's attention, and is treated, not chronologically, but rather gee-graphically, under the three heads of The celebration of the Passover is then briefly noticed ( 2 Kings 23:21-25 ); and the section concludes with a eulogy of Josiah ( 2 Kings 23:24 , 2 Kings 23:25 ), who, however, it is noticed could not, with all his piety, obtain a revocation of the sentence passed on Judah in... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Kings 23:4-27

The inability of the best intentions and the strongest will to convert a nation that is corrupt to the core. Josiah's reformation was the most energetic and the most thorough-going that was ever carried out by any Jewish king. It far transcended, not only the efforts made by Jehoiada in the time of Joash ( 2 Kings 11:17-21 ; 2 Kings 12:1-16 ), and the feeble attempts of Manasseh on his return from Babylon ( 2 Chronicles 33:15-19 ), but even the earnest endeavors of Hezekiah at the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Kings 23:15-20

The altar at Bethel. From Judah Josiah passed on to Israel, continuing his work of idol-demolition. Everywhere he went he proved himself a veritable "hammer of God"—leveling, defacing, dishonoring, destroying. I. AN ANCIENT PROPHECY FULFILLED . 1. Iconoclasm at Bethel . Bethel had been the chief scene of Israel's idolatry—the head and front of its offending (cf. Hosea 4:15 ; Hosea 10:4-9 , etc.). On it Josiah's zeal first expended itself. Hosea had prophesied its... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Kings 23:20

And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there upon the altars. It is not directly said that he had done this at Bethel, though it had been prophesied that he would do so ( 1 Kings 13:2 ). Possibly there were no priests at Bethel at the time, since the "calf" set up by Jeroboam had been carried off ( Hosea 10:6 ) by the Assyrians. The difference between the treatment of the high-place priests in Israel and in Judah ( 2 Kings 23:9 ) clearly implies that the former were... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 2 Kings 23:4-20

A parenthesis giving the earlier reforms of Josiah.2 Kings 23:4The priests of the second order - This is a new expression; and probably refers to the ordinary priests, called here “priests of the second order,” in contrast with the high priest, whose dignity was reviving (2 Kings 12:2 note).The vessels - This would include the whole apparatus of worship, altars, images, dresses, utensils, etc., for Baal, etc. (2 Kings 21:3-5 notes).The ashes of the idolatrous objects burned in the first... read more

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