King Josiah, after the discovery of the Book of the Covenant, leads Judah in a national covenant renewal with the LORD. He then initiates a sweeping religious reformation, systematically purging idolatry, high places, and abominable practices throughout Judah and even into the former kingdom of Israel. This extensive purification culminates in an unprecedented Passover celebration. Despite Josiah's unparalleled devotion, the LORD's fierce wrath against Judah remains due to Manasseh's sins, and Josiah's reign ends tragically in battle, followed by the wicked reigns of his sons.
And the king went up into 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 he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD.
And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.
¶ And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel.
And he put down the idolatrous priests, 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; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.
And he brought out the grove from the house of the LORD, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people.
And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba, and brake down the high places of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city.
Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, but they did eat of the unleavened bread among their brethren.
And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech.
And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entering in of the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathanmelech the chamberlain, which was in the suburbs, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire.
And the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD, did the king beat down, and brake them down from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron.
And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile.
Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he brake down, and burned the high place, and stamped it small to powder, and burned the grove.
And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchres that were there in the mount, and sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burned them upon the altar, and polluted it, according to the word of the LORD which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words.
Then he said, What title is that that I see? And the men of the city told him, It is the sepulchre of the man of God, which came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar of Bethel.
And all the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the LORD to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel.
Surely there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah;
Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD.
¶ And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.
Notwithstanding the LORD turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal.
And the LORD said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.
In his days Pharaohnechoh king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates: and king Josiah went against him; and he slew him at Megiddo, when he had seen him.
And his servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulchre. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father's stead.
¶ Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
And Pharaohnechoh put him in bands at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and put the land to a tribute of an hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold.
And Pharaohnechoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the room of Josiah his father, and turned his name to Jehoiakim, and took Jehoahaz away: and he came to Egypt, and died there.
And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh; but he taxed the land to give the money according to the commandment of Pharaoh: he exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, of every one according to his taxation, to give it unto Pharaohnechoh.
Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Zebudah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.
And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.
Study Notes for 2 Kings 23
Verse 2
Reading the book of the covenant publicly validates the reform effort and emphasizes the authority of the rediscovered Law (likely Deuteronomy) as the foundation for national life.
Verse 3
The public renewal of the covenant (a Deuteronomic requirement) shows Josiah's commitment and binds the entire nation to the Law, reversing the apostasy of previous reigns.
Verse 4
The vessels used for pagan worship were destroyed outside the city, and the ashes were taken to Bethel, symbolically defiling the primary cult center established by Jeroboam (1 Kings 12).
Verse 5
The 'idolatrous priests' were likely non-Levitical priests (kĕmārîm) ordained by previous kings to serve pagan deities, including the pervasive astral cults ('all the host of heaven').
Verse 7
The 'sodomites' (Hebrew: qadesh) refers to male cult prostitutes associated with Canaanite fertility rites, indicating the depth of pagan corruption even within the temple complex.
Verse 8
'From Geba to Beersheba' is a classic phrase defining the geographical extent of Judah, confirming that Josiah purified the entire territory under his control.
Verse 9
These priests were disqualified from serving at the central Jerusalem altar because they had served at high places, but they were not completely defrocked; they were permitted to eat community provisions (unleavened bread).
Verse 10
Topheth, located in the Valley of Hinnom (Gehenna), was the site of child sacrifice to the god Molech. Defiling this site was critical, as this ritual represented the height of moral depravity.
Verse 11
This verse reveals the extent of syncretism: even horses and chariots were dedicated to the sun god, a practice common in Mesopotamian and Egyptian religion.
Verse 13
These high places, built by Solomon centuries earlier for his foreign wives (1 Kings 11:7), had persisted through all previous reform efforts, illustrating the tenacity of foreign cults.
Verse 15
Josiah extended his reform into the territory of the former Northern Kingdom (Israel), which was by this time under Assyrian control, demonstrating his zeal and political influence.
Verse 16
Burning human bones upon the altar ritually defiled the site beyond redemption, ensuring it could never be used for worship again. This action fulfills the prophecy made in 1 Kings 13:2.
Verse 17
The preservation of the bones of the prophet from Judah confirms the accuracy and longevity of the divine word spoken centuries earlier against Jeroboam's altar.
Verse 20
Slaying the idolatrous priests of the high places was a severe act of judgment, mirroring the actions of Elijah (1 Kings 18:40) and confirming the Deuteronomic demand for the execution of those who lead Israel astray.
Verse 22
The emphasis on the unparalleled nature of this Passover highlights the thoroughness of Josiah's reform, which successfully centralized worship in Jerusalem as demanded by the covenant Law.
Verse 24
Josiah’s removal of all magical and occult practices was a final effort to make the nation conform precisely to the Law found in the rediscovered book.
Verse 25
This verse provides the definitive Deuteronomic evaluation of Josiah: he was the most righteous king, turning to God with total devotion. His piety sets the standard for all subsequent kings.
Verse 26
God’s refusal to turn back confirms the doctrine of corporate responsibility; Manasseh's deep, institutionalized evil was so pervasive that even Josiah’s righteousness could not avert the decreed judgment.
Verse 27
The coming destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple is inevitable. The Lord treats Judah exactly as he had treated Israel (the Northern Kingdom), demonstrating impartiality in judgment.
Verse 29
Pharaoh Neco II was marching to aid the collapsing Assyrian Empire against the rising Babylonians. Josiah opposed him, likely attempting to prevent Egyptian dominance over Judah, a fateful political error.
Verse 30
Josiah’s death marks the end of Judah’s independence and the beginning of its final decline under the influence of foreign powers.
Verse 31
Jehoahaz (also called Shallum in Jeremiah 22:11) reigned only three months, indicating the rapidly deteriorating political stability of the kingdom.
Verse 33
Pharaoh Neco deposed Jehoahaz and imposed a heavy tribute, confirming Judah’s status as an Egyptian vassal state subject to foreign political control.
Verse 34
The renaming of Eliakim to Jehoiakim by Pharaoh Neco was a powerful symbolic act asserting Egyptian sovereignty and control over the Judean throne.
Verse 36
Jehoiakim was a puppet king installed by Egypt. His reign was characterized by political submission to foreign powers and internal wickedness (cf. Jeremiah 22:13-19).
Use ←→ arrow keys to navigate
Settings
Reading Style
Typeface
Font Size px
The Calling of Disciples
19And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
Reading Width chars
Options
Choose a Book
Study Note
Bible Version
Recent History
Get the App
Add TrulyRandomVerse to your home screen for instant access
TRV