2 Kings 23:5,2 Kings 23:12

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 23:5

And he put down the idolatrous priests ,.... The Cemarim, so called, because they wore black clothes, as Kimchi and others, whereas the priests of the Lord were clothed in white linen; see Gill on Zephaniah 1:4 . whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places, in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem ; for though those high places were destroyed by Hezekiah, they were rebuilt by Manasseh his son, and priests put in them to officiate... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 2 Kings 23:5

The idolatrous priests - הכמרים hakkemarim . Who these were is not well known. The Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic, call them the priests simply, which the kings of Judah had ordained. Probably they were an order made by the idolatrous kings of Judah, and called kemarim , from כמר camar , which signifies to be scorched, shriveled together, made dark, or black, because their business was constantly to attend sacrificial fires, and probably they were black garments; hence the Jews in... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Kings 23:1-14

Josiah's great reformation. The narrative of Josiah's reforms contained in this chapter incorporates several particulars which, if the Book of Chronicles is to be regarded as giving the true chronology, belong to an earlier period. It is next to incredible that, after Jehovah's worship had been regularly established, such scandals as the prostitution alluded to in 2 Kings 23:7 , and the horses and chariots of the sun in 2 Kings 23:11 , should have Been allowed to continue. The narrative... 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 23:5

And he put down the idolatrous priests ; literally, the chemarim . The same word is used of idolatrous priests in Hosea 10:5 and Zephaniah 1:4 . It is best connected with the Arabic root chamar , colere deum , and with the Syriac cumro , "priest" or "sacrificer." The Syrian priests were probably so called at the time, and the Hebrews took the word, and applied it to all false priests or idolatrous priests, reserving their own cohanim ( כֹּהֲנִים ) for true Jehovistic... 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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