CHAPTER XXIII _Josiah reads in the temple to the elders of Judah, the priests,_ _the prophets, and the people, the book of the covenant which_ _had been found_, 1, 2. _He makes a covenant, and the people stand to it_, 3. _He destroys the vessels of Baal and Asherah, and puts down the_ _idolatr... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 23:2. _THE KING WENT UP INTO THE HOUSE OF THE LORD_] Here is another very singular circumstance. The high priest, scribes, priest, and prophets, are gathered together, with all the elders of the people, and the king himself reads the book of the covenant which had been lately found! It... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 23:3. _STOOD BY A PILLAR_] _He stood_, על העמוד al haammud, "_upon the stairs or pulpit_." This is what is called the _brazen_ _scaffold_ or _pulpit_ which Solomon made, and on which the kings were accustomed to stand when they addressed the people. See 2 Chronicles 6:13, and the paral... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 23:4. _THE PRIESTS OF THE SECOND ORDER_] These were probably such as supplied the place of the high priest when he was prevented: from fulfilling the functions of his office. So the Chaldee understood the place - _the sagan of the high priests_. But the words may refer to those of the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 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_... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 23:6. _HE BROUGHT OUT THE GROVE_] He brought out the idol Asherah. 2 Kings 21:26. _UPON THE GRAVES OF THE CHILDREN OF THE PEOPLE._] I believe this; means the burial-place of the _common people_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 23:7. _THE HOUSES OF THE SODOMITES_] We have already often met with these קדשים _kedeshim_ or _consecrated persons_. The word implies all kinds of _prostitutes_, as well as _abusers of themselves_ _with mankind_. _WOVE HANGINGS FOR THE GROVE._] For _Asherah_; curtains or tent covering... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 23:8. _THE GATE OF JOSHUA_] The place where he, as governor of the city, heard and decided causes. Near this we find there were public altars, where sometimes the true God, at other times false gods, were honoured.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 23:9. _THE PRIESTS OF THE HIGH PLACES CAME NOT UP_] As these priests had offered sacrifices on the _high places_, though it was to the _true God_, yet they were not thought proper to be employed _immediately_ about the temple; but as they were acknowledged to belong to the _priesthood_... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 23:10. _HE DEFILED TOPHETH_] St. Jerome says that Topheth was a fine and pleasant place, well watered with fountains, and adorned with gardens. The valley of the son of Hinnom, or _Gehenna_, was in one part; here it appears the sacred rites of Molech were performed, and to this all the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 23:11. _THE HORSES THAT THE KINGS OF JUDAH HAD GIVEN TO THE_ _SUN._] _Jarchi_ says that those who adored the _sun_ had _horses_ which they mounted every morning to go out to meet the sun at his rising. Throughout the East the _horse_, because of his _swiftness_ and _utility_, was dedic... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 23:12. _ON THE TOP OF THE UPPER CHAMBER_] Altars built on the _flat roof_ of the house. Such altars were erected to the _sun,_ _moon, stars_, c.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 23:13. _MOUNT OF CORRUPTION_] This, says _Jarchi_, following the _Chaldee_, was the mount of _Olives_, for this is the mount המשחה _hammishchah_, of _unction_; but because of the idolatrous purposes for which it was used, the Scripture changed the appellation to the _mount_ המשחית hamm... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 23:14. _FILLED THEIR PLACES WITH THE BONES OF MEN._] This was allowed to be the utmost defilement to which any thing could be exposed.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 23:16. _AND AS JOSIAH TURNED HIMSELF_] This verse is much more _complete_ in the _Septuagint_, and in the _Hexaplar Syriac_ version at Paris. I shall give the whole, making a distinction where, in those versions, any thing is added: "And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchre... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 23:17. _WHAT TITLE_ IS _THAT_] There was either a _stone_, an _image_, or an _inscription_ here: the old prophet no doubt took care to have the place made sufficiently remarkable.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 23:18. _THE PROPHET THAT CAME OUT OF SAMARIA_] 1 Kings 13:32.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 23:19. _THAT WERE IN THE CITIES OF SAMARIA_] _Israel_ had now no king; and Josiah, of the blood royal of Judah, had certainly a direct right to the kingdom; he had, at this time, an especial commission from God, to reform every abuse through the whole land-all that ground that was give... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 23:20. _SLEW ALL THE PRIESTS_] The lives of these, as corrupters of the people, were forfeited to the law.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 23:22. _SURELY THERE WAS NOT HOLDEN SUCH A PASSOVER_] Not one on _purer_ principles, more _heartily_ joined in by the _people_ present, more _literally consecrated_, or more _religiously_ observed. The words do not apply to the number present, but to the manner and spirit. See the _par... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 23:24. _THE_ WORKERS WITH _FAMILIAR SPIRITS_] See on 2 Kings 21:5. _AND THE IMAGES_] The _teraphim_. Genesis 31:19.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 23:25. _LIKE UNTO HIM WAS THERE NO KING_] Perhaps not one from the time of David; and, morally considered, including David himself, none ever sat on the Jewish throne, so truly exemplary in his own conduct, and so thoroughly zealous in the work of God. David was a _greater_ but not a _... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 26. _THE LORD TURNED NOT_] It was of no use to try this fickle and radically depraved people any longer. They were respited merely during the life of Josiah.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 29. _IN HIS DAYS PHARAOH-NECHOH_] See the note on the death of Josiah, 2 Kings 22:20. _Nechoh_ is supposed to have been the son of _Psammitichus_, king of Egypt; and the Assyrian king, whom he was now going to attack, was the famous _Nabopolassar_. What the cause of this quarrel was, is not k... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 30. _DEAD FROM MEGIDDO_] The word מת _meth_ should here be considered as a participle, _dying_, for it is certain he was not _dead_: he was _mortally wounded_ at Megiddo, was carried in a _dying_ _state_ to Jerusalem, and _there_ he _died_ and was buried. See 2 Chronicles 35:24. _Herodotus_,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 31. _JEHOAHAZ_ WAS _TWENTY AND THREE YEARS OLD_] This was not the _eldest_ son of Josiah, which is evident from this, that he was _twenty-three_ years old when he began to reign; that he reigned but _three months_; that, being dethroned, his brother _Eliakim_ was put in his place, who was then... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 33. _NECHOH PUT HIM IN BANDS_] But what was the cause of his putting him in bands? It is conjectured, and not without reason, that _Jehoahaz_, otherwise called _Shallum_, raised an army, met Nechoh in his return from _Carchemish_, fought, was beaten, taken prisoner, put in chains; and taken in... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 34. _TURNED HIS NAME TO JEHOIAKIM_] These names are precisely the same in signification: ELIAKIM is _God shall arise_; JEHOIAKIM, _Jehovah shall arise_; or, the _resurrection of God; the_ _resurrection of Jehovah_. That is, God's rising again to show his power, justice, c. The _change_ of the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 35. _JEHOIAKIM GAVE THE SILVER AND THE GOLD_] Nechoh had placed him there as viceroy, simply to _raise_ and _collect his_ _taxes_. _EVERY ONE ACCORDING TO HIS TAXATION_] That is, each was assessed in proportion to his property: that was the principle avowed: but there is reason to fear that t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 23:37. _HE DID_ THAT WHICH WAS _EVIL IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD_] He was a most unprincipled and oppressive tyrant. _Jeremiah_ gives us his character at large, Jeremiah 22:13, to which the reader will do well to refer. Jeremiah was at that time in the land, and was an eyewitness of the a... [ Continue Reading ]